We Lucky Fewer
by Imjusthere61944
Summary: Ten years after arriving at Tommy's, Ellie finds herself hunted by both her military connected father and the Saffusae, an insane group of immune survivors determined to spread the Cordyceps and kill her to ensure a cure is never found. But when Jackson is destroyed, Ellie and Joel are cast into the cold world once more to face the fact that their luck may have finally run out.
1. The girl

We lucky fewer

Chapter 1

The girl

A man in his mid thirties dressed in the remains of an Adidas winter jacket crouched low as he shifted through the undergrowth of a forest in southeastern Wyoming. He clutched tightly at his rifle at the sound of rustling a few feet ahead of him.

"Infected?"

Suddenly, a stag bounded from the surrounding foliage and ran past the man, knocking him on his back. As the massive animal ran off the man jumped to his feet and chased after it. The forest was so thick however, that the man had trouble keeping up as he crashed through all the branches and bushes. Eventually, he reached a small clearing where the deer had come to a stop.

"Gotcha." The man whispered, raising his rifle to take the shot.

Another rustle, this time from behind him, caused the man to spin around. He was greeted by the butt of a gun slamming into his forehead, sending him into blackness. When the man had managed to regain consciousness, he found himself in a strange room illuminated by a few kerosene lamps. He attempted to stand from the chair he had awoken in but quickly realized that his hands and feet were bound tightly to the chair. After a few minutes of vain struggling, the man looked at his surroundings more closely.

"Oh my god." He whispered, realizing that he was not "alone".

A dead body, that of a man about his own age with his stomach opened and insides half pulled out, lay on a table nearby. Another body, what looked like one of a female that had been decapitated, had been set in a corner of the room. The man's heart raced and the fear that was quickly filling him seemed to rush his stomach all at once, causing him to vomit.

"Good evening, sir." The voice caused the man to jump, and he looked up to see an older looking man wearing a lab coat.

The coat was stained with blood, and the stranger held a bloody scalpel in one hand.

"Oh dear God, please, don't." the captive begged as the blood covered maniac approached.

"Easy my good man, I just have some questions for you." The man had a British accent, "my name is Dr. Herbert Charles, what it yours?"

At first the hunter hesitated, but upon seeing the blood coated scalpel, he spoke.

"West." Was all he said.

"Well Mr. West, I have one very important question that I need you to answer." Said Dr. Charles as he reached into the pocket of his lab coat and pulled out a photograph.

It was a picture of a young girl who looked about fourteen with red hair and green eyes. Her face seemed to hold a deep maturity and yet a feeling of exhaustion and….oldness. West had never seen a fourteen year old girl that looked like the one in the picture, but the look in her eye was a most familiar one.

"I'd like you to tell me if you have seen this girl before, and if so, where." The doctor continued as he held the photo in front of his victim.

West thought about it for a minute. On one hand, he had a pretty good idea as to who the girl in the photo was. Still, this Brit was clearly a few monkeys short of a barrel and he sure as hell wasn't about to tell him where she was. So he remained silent. Dr. Charles stared at him thoughtfully for a moment. Then, without warning, he stabbed the scalpel into West's knee, causing the captive to let out a shriek. A sharp searing pain resounded from his knee throughout what seemed like the entirety of the left side of his body.

"I suggest you speak Mr. West, or else things could go very badly for you indeed." The doctor roared above the latter's screams of pain, twisting the scalpel in his knee for emphasis.

"Fuck you!" West screamed back.

"Not the answer I want to hear Mr. West!" Dr. Charles shouted as he pulled the scalpel from West's leg and stabbed it into his shoulder.

Fresh waves of pain sent West into a delirium of screaming and groaning.

"I suggest you speak or I'll start taking fingers!" his torturer warned.

"Go to hell, AAAAAAAH!" with one vicious movement, the doctor brought the blade down on West's pointer finger, severing it.

"I can send you there, Mr. West, that is my specialty, now _speak_!"

"Oh God! SOME ONE HEEEELP!"

"THERE"S NO ONE TO HERE YOU MR. WEST! NOW WHERE IS THE GIRL!?"

"AAAAAUUUGH!" another scream of pain announced the demise of West's other pointer finger.

"It's Ellie! It's Ellie, she lives in our town!" he broke at last. It was all too much, every inch of his body was being assaulted with a sharp stinging pain.

"Where!?"

"Jackson! It's only a few miles from where I was hunting! God, please make it stop!"

Dr. Charles stood and regarded West briefly, then he turned and walked a few feet over to a table where he set the scalpel down.

"I believe you, Mr. West." He said, causing West to give a sigh of relief.

"You…you…you're gonna let me go?" the injured victim gasped in disbelief.

"Yes, Mr. West." Said Dr, Charles, reaching for a canister that sat on the table he had set the scalpel down on, "I am going to set you free."

Hearing malice behind the doctor's tone West opened his mouth in horror when the insane Englishman held the canister before him and twisted the valve on top. Immediately _Ophiocordyceps _spores began to spray from the canister, filling the area around West's face.

"Oh God, no!" West let out one last desperate shriek as the spores entered his lungs, he could feel them. After a few minutes of exposure, the poor man was unconscious, and when he would awaken, he would no longer be human.

Dr. Charles, who had been inhaling the spores as well, only smiled once West had lost consciousness and closed the valve once more. He then took a radio from the pocket of his lab coat.

"Base, this is Dr. Charles. I have a possible location on the girl." He announced into the device.

"Rodger that, state location, over." Came a curt voice from the other end.

"Jackson…."

* * *

_Poor West, what an end. Anyhow's, usual disclaimer, I don't own The Last of Us or it's characters. Hope you enjoy. Cheers. _


	2. Our patch of paradise

Chapter 2

Our patch of paradise

Ellie's eyes flew open, and she let out a slight gasp. Having just awakened from a nightmare, she sat up and glanced around before recognizing where she was. The room was mainly empty save for an old mattress on which she now lay and a dresser that had no drawers on which her clothes for the day were folded. The only source of light was a dusty window through which the sun's weak rays managed to penetrate. With a sigh, she stood up and stretched a little, then walked over to the dresser to retrieve her clothing. She dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a green t-shirt that had been a long sleeved shirt at one point, but the sleeves had long since been cut away. Once she was dressed, Ellie headed out into the main room of the building she and Joel occupied.

This room had more furniture, including a couch, a table, and even a reclining chair. The furniture themselves had numerous patches that had been necessary to their upkeep, but aside from that were in fair condition. In the reclining chair, with a blanket over him that had slipped down to his knees during the night, Joel lay gently snoring. He had grown older over the years; though Ellie would often marvel at how young he looked for his age. His hair had since grown grayer and his beard had been trimmed so that all that remained was a ring of facial hair around his mouth that was as gray as his hair. Ellie approached him silently and laid a kiss on his forehead before turning and heading for the main entry way.

Here there were a two pairs of shoes, one an old pair of hiking boots and a pair of old Nike sneakers. However, there was also a mirror hanging slightly out of alignment on the wall, this being her target. Ellie stood before it and looked over herself to ensure she wasn't too out of sorts from her slumber. Staring at her reflections, she saw looking back at her a twenty-four year old young woman. She was good shape of course, perhaps even with some muscle tone to her. Her red hair had been cut short, so that the back only came down to the halfway of the back of her neck, and the other sides were shorter. This was a purposeful design as she had learned some time ago that short hair was a boon in the environment in which they lived. Her eyes, a light green, seemed, to many, to hold a deepness of understanding that had, if anything, increased over the years.

A knock on the door caught her attention, and Ellie approached the old oak entry and opened it, letting in a healthy breeze that felt rather nice against the stuffy indoor air.

"Good morning." John Laverne, one of the engineers that quartered in Jackson, greeted he with a slight bow, "is uh…is Joel awake?"

"No, why?" Ellie replied, glancing back at Joel's sleeping form.

"Well, it's just that generator four has gone offline again and we're one man short since West is still missing." John explained.

Ellie gave a worried look. "He's _still_ missing?"

"I'm afraid so, we've sent a few people out to look for him but…I don't know Ellie it doesn't look good."

"Shit."

"I know." John put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

After a minute or so of silence, Ellie glanced back at Joel, and then started putting on the hiking boots.

"Let him rest. I'll go along." She said, as she grabbed a rifle that was leaning in the corner of the hall and slung it over her shoulder.

"Ellie, you sure you want to….?"

"I'll be fine, John, let's just get going." Ellie insisted stubbornly.

John only nodded and stepped back while Ellie shut the door to the house before following him down the street. Jackson wasn't a massive town, but it had one of the highest populations of the area, over 4,000 people lived within the electrified fence that defended its perimeter. Much of the town had been restored, so the buildings looked in decent shape. Ellie herself had helped in several of these projects over the years. A group of young children, laughing and shouting, ran pas the pair causing Ellie to smile.

"So how'd you sleep?" John inquired as if bothered by the silence from his companion.

"Fine." Was all Ellie said in reply, causing John to sigh a little.

"I'm sorry, am I boring you?" Ellie asked with a chuckle.

"A little."

They both laughed then. John and Ellie were close friends, both having volunteered in the many expeditions that ventured beyond Jackson in search of supplies. They had been through a lot together. Their destination was a small building that had originally been a diner back before everything had gone to hell. It was only a few blocks from the generator, and so this was the designated area for the security detail and engineer team to meet.

Inside the diner, seated at some of the old booths were Robert and Alex, two other engineers. Also with them were Patrick and Gale, two of the normal three men to accompany the engineer team Delta, which consisted of Robert, Alex, and John. Teams were created by combining a security squad with a group of engineers, thus ensuring the eggheads did their jobs without having to worry about bandits or infected. Of course, generally they didn't have any trouble with jobs inside Jackson, but still, caution was a key part of their doctrine. Especially when it came to engineers, they were hard to replace.

Ellie and John entered the diner, causing Alex to stand up upon seeing her.

"Oh, hey Ellie, I uh….I didn't know you were coming. Where's Joel? I mean, not that…" he spoke rapidly and nervously, causing Ellie to smile.

Alex had a huge crush on her, and everyone knew it.

"Ellie will be joining us in place of Joel. Any objections?" John announced to the group.

There was silence, and a few of them shook their heads. Why would they object? It was well known that Ellie could hold her own. She had even been on a security for a time before switching over to the expeditions to the outside in order to cater to her need liking of the wilderness.

"Alright, let's get this over with." Said Robert, getting to his feet and leading the way toward the door.

"All set to take on the world again?" Patrick joked to Ellie as the group made their way to generator four.

"Somebody's gotta do it." Ellie grinned back at him.

"Here we are." Gale reached into his pocket and pulled out a key before removing a lock and chain from the door to the building which housed said generator.

The group entered, Ellie and Patrick going first with their rifles at the ready. After discerning there was no immediate threat, the rest of the group entered. While the engineers looked over the massive generator, Ellie and Gale stood nearby, with Patrick patrolling around the generator.

"Nothing so boring like guard duty." Gale sighed.

"Nothing as important either." Ellie reminded him, earning her a small chuckle.

"Ever resilient Ellie, never bulking at serving her community."

"Give and take, Gale, give and take."

"I think I found the problem!" the shout came from Alex on the far side of the generator.

John hurried over and soon located the issue as well. "What the hell." He muttered, noting several key wires had been tore apart. But the way in which they had been so was like…

"Something's been chewing on the wires."

No sooner were these words out of his mouth, when a blood curling and, to Ellie at least, all to familiar screech went up.

"STALKER!" she shouted as the hideously deformed infected charged from the shadows right at John and Alex.

"Shit!" Gale moved quickly, sprinting right at the monster and tackling it to the ground.

The two wreslted around on the ground, whole Ellie and Patrick ran up to the scuffle, but remained standing by, unsure what to do. Finally, intent on trying something, Patrick raised his rifle, but Ellie pushed the barrel back down.

"No, you could hit Gale!" she warned him.

Suddenly, Gale delivered a solid punch to the Stalker's face, causing it to stumble back. With their view now open, Ellie and Patrick opened fire. A barrage of rifle bullets struck the Stalker and it fell dead with a groan. At first no one said anything, only stared at the body.

"Oh God." Gale whispered, causing Ellie to turn her attention to him.

Gale was staring at a bite mark on his forearm, and as soon as Ellie saw it, she gasped.

"Oh no, Gale."

They were all looking at him now. There was a contingency that the groups had been taught in the event one of them was bitten. And now, as Gale looked around at his fellow survivors, he let out a sob and tears began to fall from his eyes. With hands shaking, he took his rifle and, after pulling back the bolt a little to make sure a round was chambered, placed the barrel in his mouth. The others watched on grimly as he pulled the trigger.

"BLAM!" Gale was no more.

Ellie had shut her eyes tightly and looked away until the gunshot had sounded. She opened her eyes and glanced back at the body of Gale which was crumpled in a heap on the floor.

"Damn it!" she muttered.

"We should get him out of here." Suggested Patrick solemnly.

"You and Ellie, go, we have a bigger problem here." Said John, gesturing toward the generator.

"Damn it John, fuck the generator, Gale's dead.' Ellie hissed at the engineer, who rounded on her angrily.

"It's not just the generator! How the hell was a Stalker able to get in here in the first place? We're inside the fence."

Ellie seemed as though she was going to argue some more, but she saw John's point and kept silent.

"Someone's gotta tell Tommy." Said Alex.

"Ok, Ellie, you and Alex go tell Tommy what happened and tell him to send Carson along to pick up the body for cremation before it starts excreting spores. Me, Robert, and Patrick will stay and investigate."

"But…"

"Ellie, _please._"

Ellie stared at John for a few seconds before finally relenting and swinging her rifle back over her shoulder.

"C'mon Alex." She said, leading the way toward the door.

Once they were gone, John turned back to Patrick and Robert.

"Alright, spread out; let's check the whole building, top to bottom. We need to figure out how that thing got in here. Stay alert."

The two men nodded, and then set out, Patrick with his rifle, Robert with a revolver drawn and ready. While they headed off, John looked back at Gale's body and felt a wave of depression wash over him.

"I'm sorry, Gale." He whispered, "I froze up."

"I'm so sorry."

* * *

_A harsh contingency perhaps but a necessary one. After all, there is no cure for the infection is there? I appreciate the reviews thus far and there insightfulness into correcting my mistakes on Ellie's physical features. As you will all note, I have ramified these. Thanks again, cheers. _


	3. Infiltrated

Chapter 3

Infiltrated

"_Find someone else!"_

"_There is no one else!" _

"_This isn't about me, or even her! There is no other choice here!"_

"_Yeah, you keep telling yourself that bullshit."_

"_I won't let you take her, this girl is our future!"_

"_It's what she'd want and you know it!"_

"_That's not for you to decide!" _

"_You can't save her!"_

Joel awoke suddenly, his head still ringing with the voices that permeated his nightmares. He sat up slowly and with a groan, allowing the blanket he had been sleeping under to slip off him and crumple to the ground. After standing and stretching a little, he trotted slowly toward the room where Ellie stayed. The door was ajar a little, and opening it fully revealed the room empty. This was not something unusual. Ellie had always been a free spirited young lady, and as she had grown older, she had also become more independent. At first he had felt reserved about Ellie going out on security details and foraging missions, but as the years went on he had learned to live with it.

Still, it didn't stop Joel from worrying about her, and this was no exception as he stared at the empty bed wondering where she could be. He didn't spend much time pondering the question though; he found all it often accomplished was loss of sleep. Instead, he headed back toward the front door and stopped briefly to get his shoes on. However, his hiking boots had gone missing, leaving only a pair of white Nike tennis shoes. Joel let out a sigh.

"Ellie." He thought.

Joel glanced over at the mirror and found his reflection staring back at him.

"How did you get so old?" he asked himself.

It was true. Joel was 63 years old and not getting any younger. Though he had always been in such good shape, it seemed age was finally starting to creep up on him. What hurt him most of all was the massive scar that ran across the side of his lower body, a reminder of the bloody and desperate journey that they had endured together. Every now and then it would twinge among all the other pains he was forced to endure as his life had worn on.

"It's a shame really; you'd have been old enough to retire at one time." He sighed to his reflection before stepping outside barefoot (after all, Ellie's shoes weren't about to fit him).

Outside the strength and position of the sun in the sky told Joel that he had slept in much later than he had intended and he swore quietly before increasing his pace.

"Another curse of old age." He thought.

His purpose for being in a hurry was that he had promised to meet Tommy at the garage early that morning, and clearly it was no longer "early". He passed by the occasional person, some calling out greetings, others shooting him venomous looks. Joel's personality was the type that some people got used to and others didn't. Still, he didn't have time to be worrying about his popularity in Jackson at the time. The garage had been a Express Oil back in the day, but the residents of Jackson had since added on sections and created a sort of impromptu vehicle storage and repair station.

Inside the garage the sounds of machinery whirring filled the air and Joel made his way toward the back of the place where Tommy had told him to meet him. The bright light of a welder greeted the elder man as he found his brother welding a metal plate to the window of a car in order to give it a form of armored protection.

"Buildin' yourself a tank, little brother?" Joel asked loudly over the din of noise.

Tommy, who had also grown a bit older over the years, stood up after switching off the welder and removed the dark goggles before turning to his brother and smiling.

"I got somethin' better than that." He announced, gesturing for Joel to follow him.

As the pair were making their way toward something in the corner of the shop covered with a canvass, a young boy about eight years old with blond hair ran up to them holding a wrench.

"I got it daddy." The boy announced proudly, holding out the wrench to Tommy.

The younger brother took it with a smile and looked it over before giving a chuckle.

"Andy, this is a 3/4 not 2/4, try again son."

The boy's face turned from one of elation to one of sullenness and Joel walked over and gave the boy a half-hug.

"Don't worry about, Andy, you'll get it this time." He assured his young nephew, who smiled up at him.

"Thanks Uncle Joel." The young lad perked up a little and ran off to get the right wrench with Joel and Tommy watching on.

"He's a good kid." Joel observed.

"Yeah, he takes after his mom a good deal." Tommy agreed as they reached his "big surprise" and he removed the cover.

The surprise was revealed to be a massive .50 Caliber turret. Joel stepped back a bit, surprised by this, and then moved a bit closer, scrutinizing the massive killing machine.

"Where the hell did you get that?" he gasped.

"One of our expeditions found a tank a few miles out. It wasn't in working condition, but I reckon we can get this gun workin'. It just needs some cleanin'." Tommy explained as he lifted the gun up onto a nearby table.

"Shoot, we'll have something for those bandits if they ever give another raid a try."

"Yes indeed." Tommy agreed, moving around the table. It was at this moment that he happened to glance down and notice that Joel was barefoot.

"Uhhhh, brother, why you barefoot?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, Ellie took my shoes again." Joel explained with an exasperated sigh. It wasn't the first time it had happened.

"Again huh?"

"Yeah, where is she anyway?"

"Sorry brother, I ain't seen."

Joel turned and looked out through one of the open entry ways that had been previously used to shuttle cars in.

"I hope she's ok."

* * *

Ellie and Alex trudged down the road toward the garage in silence. Following a stop off at Tommy's house, they had learned from Maria that he was at the garage with his son working on something important, so now the two were making their way there. Alex had a tick cloud of despondency about him, and Ellie couldn't say she blamed him.

"How do you deal with it?" he asked suddenly.

At first Ellie couldn't say anything. She often found herself asking that exact same question.

"You just do." She muttered back.

"I wish I was like you, Ellie. I wish I could just forget about it all."

"You never forget about it Alex, you just…" the young woman let out a deep sigh, "learn to live with it."

It was true. Over the years she had learned to live with a lot; Riley, Henry and Sam, and even her killing David. And yet it never seemed to get any easier. She had nightmares about it sometimes. One night her dreams would be filled with the psychotic David's laughs, another the frantic and pain filled sobs of Henry after being forced to shoot his baby brother. No, it never got an easier.

They reached the garage and entered, being greeted by several people as they did. Ellie caught sight of Tommy near the back of the place and noted who else was with him with a smile. Joel was the first to notice them approaching and greeted Ellie with a smile of his own.

"There you are, you had me worried sick all morning."

"You're still worrying about me? That's not good for a man your age." Ellie joked.

"Easy now, you're gonna get old too someday."

"Maybe someday."

They hugged then, a tight hug that signified the deep bond between them, as deep as a father and his daughter, and since Ellie had never really known her father, Joel had filled that role for the last ten years.

"I see you got my boots." Joel observed, gesturing toward the hiking boots Ellie was wearing.

"I'll never understand how she fits into those things." The young guy who had accompanied her, a skinny kid with black hair and glasses, what was his name? Joel racked his memory until it came to him.

"Morning Alex." One of the eggheads Joel remembered.

"I stuff tissue paper in them." Ellie explained with a grin.

Alex however, kept to his task and turned to Tommy with a grim look. "Gale's dead." He reported.

"What, how?" Tommy inquired in surprise.

"A Stalker got into generator four somehow and managed to bite him. He followed contingency after that."

"Damn it." Tommy cursed angrily; it always hurt him when they lost someone.

Joel turned to Ellie with a look of anger. "What were you up to this morning?" he demanded.

"I volunteered to go in your place with the security detail, I figured you needed sleep." Ellie explained, rolling her eyes slightly at knowing what was coming.

"Ellie, you and I have hand this conversation. I don't want you putting yourself in danger in my place."

"Joel, I'm perfectly capable of handling myself."

"That ain't the point here."

"Then what is?"

"_Alex you there?"_ John's voice over the radio broke into the argument.

"Yeah, go ahead." Alex replied after retrieving the communication device from his belt.

"_Have you reached Tommy yet?" _

"Yeah, he's right here."

"_Let me talk to him." _

Alex nodded and handed the radio off to Tommy.

"This is Tommy."

"_Tommy, we got a body for Carson here at generator four." _

"I know, they explained it. How the hell did a Stalker get inside the compound?"

"_I think I might have found the answer, you better get some people over here now." _

"Rodger that." Tommy concluded, and then handed the radio back to Alex.

"I'll go." Ellie volunteered before Tommy could even speak.

"No you won't." Joel objected immediately, "I will."

"Joel…"

"Ellie, it was supposed to be my detail anyway."

"Yeah, but I took the job, and now I gotta finish it." Without even awaiting a counter argument, Ellie headed off toward the doors of the garage and was soon out of sight.

Joel took a few steps in pursuit, but Tommy held him back. "Let her go, Joel. You know her."

The latter let out a sigh, but complied and stood where he was, still staring at the door Ellie had left through.

"I wish she'd be less reckless." He sighed.

"She's very brave, sir." Alex noted.

"Yeah well sometimes those two traits can get mixed up." Joel retorted, causing Alex to go silent.

"C'mon brother, help me clean this thing." Tommy broke in, gesturing toward the gun.

Joel nodded in agreement and went off with his brother to get the necessary gear, but not before shooting one last glance at the door.

"Be careful Ellie." He whispered.

* * *

John started down the hole that had been cut in the floor of the generator room. The fact that he could not see the bottom told him it was a tunnel, but his suspicions would likely be confirmed once Patrick had returned. They were still waiting, him and Robert, when the door to the place opened and Ellie entered.

"Hey, where's Alex?" Robert greeted her.

"He stayed behind at the garage with Tommy and Joel." Ellie explained as she approached the whole. "Jesus, what the hell is this thing?"

"Off hand, I'd call it a hole." Robert replied sarcastically.

"Smart ass." Ellie muttered as she knelt down to try and get a better look.

Suddenly, a hand shot up from the darkness and grabbed the edge of the hole, causing her to jump back. Both John and Robert laughed as the hand was revealed to be Patrick climbing back out.

"Jesus Pat, you scared the hell out of me." Ellie gasped, drawing a grin from the red haired young man.

"Well, what'd you find?" John inquired.

"You're right, it is a tunnel, but I couldn't reach the end of it." Patrick confirmed.

"What? Why?"

"Spores, there in there about ten feet down."

"Who would tunnel into the generator room?" asked Robert with concern.

"Bandits maybe?" Suggested Ellie, but John shook his head.

"No, otherwise they would have looted for parts. This is something else." He ran a hand through is thinning brown hair in frustration.

"If we have a gas mask, I can go further." Patrick volunteered, but once more John dissented.

"No, I only have one and I'm not sending you down there alone."

"Let me go with him." Ellie suggested immediately, "I don't need a mask."

"Yeah, she can go in." Patrick agreed.

John seemed to consider the plan for a minute, and then he nodded.

"Alright," he agreed, "but if you two aren't back in an hour, I'm going to get more masks and we're coming in after you. So don't take too long."

"You got it chief." Said Patrick as he caught the gas mask that was tossed to him.

"Alright, let's move." Ellie hopped down inside the hole and fell about seven feet before hitting the dirt floor of the tunnel with a grunt.

Patrick followed after her and both took out their flashlights.

"Good luck!" Robert called after them as the pair headed down the tunnel.

True to Patrick's word, they had only gone a few feet before their flashlight beams found the cloud of spores drifting in the tunnel. Patrick immediately placed on his gas mask.

"You ready?" Ellie inquired.

"Yeah." Patrick's muffled voice confirmed, and they started forward.

For the rest of the way, the small, tubular, dirt tunnel was filled with the deadly spores as they pushed forward. Ellie could feel them tickling her throat as she inhaled and coughed a little.

"You alright?" her companion asked.

"Yeah, I'm good."

They continued on as best they could. The tunnel was small in size and Ellie was rather tall for a woman at about five foot eight, and Patrick was no midget either. Eventually, they reached another opening that needed the tunnel and led them into a massive sewer tunnel that was much larger.

"There's our culprit." Ellie announced, gesturing toward a dead body that was lying against the wall next to the opening of the tunnel that had begun to propagate.

While Patrick checked the body, Ellie looked around the sewer and came upon a set of drilling tools lying near the tunnel entrance.

"Looks like someone definitely drilled their way into the generator room. Clever thing really, no one would hear their tools over the generator running." She observed.

"Well congratulations Ellie, you found our tools." Patrick said from behind her.

"Wait, _our _tools?" Ellie turned in time to receive a punch from Patrick who grabbed the rifle from her back and flung it into the water that ran through the sewer tunnel they were in.

Before she could even react, Patrick had his hands around her neck and was choking her. In desperation, Ellie reached up and tore the mask from Patrick's face. He was so surprised that his grip loosened and she managed to push him away from her. She then watched triumphantly as Patrick breathed deeply in an effort to catch his breath.

"That's right, breath deep asshole." She hissed.

To her utter shock, Patrick looked up at her and smiled.

"Oh, I'm quite alright Ellie." He hissed, and then he dove at her once more.

This time at least, Ellie was prepared, and he threw a punch at Patrick which connected with his jaw. He stumbled a little, and then launched an attack of his own. Ellie managed to block his punches, but a kick to the stomach caught her off guard, and she crumpled to the floor, her breath temporarily knocked from her. Patrick grabbed her by the neck once more and slammed her into the concrete wall, causing her to give a cry of pain.

"H…h...how?" she gasped. Patrick had already inhaled enough spores to take the two of them combined down.

Patrick gave only a cruel smile. "You didn't think you were the only one?" he whispered.

Then, his iron grip tightened, closing off Ellie's air pipe completely. She gasped and sputtered, tugging at the hands that were denying her life giving oxygen, but to no avail.

"Our father, thou art in heaven!" Patrick shouted above Ellie's frantic gasps, "please accept my sacrifice to you! This woman! Who would deny and hinder your will! Thy will be done!"

Ellie stopped trying to tug at Patrick's hands and instead reached into her pocket. From it she drew her trusty switchblade and stabbed it into her attacker's neck. This time it was Patrick's turn to be surprised and he released Ellie, who crumpled to the ground, gasping for air. She looked up and watched as, gurgling and chocking on his own blood, Patrick stumbled back and fell against the far wall before sliding down it in a heap.

Patrick was dead.

At first all Ellie could do was stare in utter shock at the body of her former comrade. Patrick had tried to kill her, he had tried to _murder_ her. But why? So many questions flooded her head. However, one thing rang most clear in her mind.

"_You found our tools." _Patrick's words repeated themselves in her mind. _"Our tools…"_

"There's more of them!" she realized in horror, "who knows how many."

Standing up, Ellie retrieved her knife from Patrick's neck before running back up the tunnel toward the generator room.

She had to warn the others.

* * *

_Anyone see that one coming? Poor Ellie. Thanks for all the support and reviews thus far and i'm glad you're all enjoying the story. Please drop a review on this chapter if you like, I'd much appreciate it. Cheers. _


	4. Trust

Chapter 4

Trust

The crawl back up the tunnel seemed so much longer than the trip down had been to Ellie. Then again, the blood of a man she would have trusted with her life only minutes ago was not coating her hands at the time. She could feel the warm liquid on her fingers from when she had stabbed Patrick and it made her sick. Despite this however, she continued to claw her way resolutely up the tunnel with only one goal in mind: to warn the others of Patrick's deception. At last light could be seen at the end and she reached the upward climb, which she began to ascend. Ellie had nearly reached the top when a hand was offered down to her, which she took gratefully. Upon being pulled up, the hand was revealed to belong to John, who was now staring at his own hand that was stained with the blood that was on Ellie's.

"What happened down there? Are you hurt?" he asked with concern, "where's Patrick?"

"He…he…Jesus John he tried to kill me." Ellie gasped, still not quite able to wrap her mind around it.

"What?!" both John and Robert exclaimed with what seemed like the same breath.

"You were right; someone tunneled into the generator room. We found some tools and then…and then Patrick said "you found our tools" and then he tried to strangle me." Ellie recounted the event, shuddering at the memory of Patrick's blood face after she had stabbed him.

She was no stranger to killing. She had been doing it since she was fourteen. Still, it was never an easy thing. What's more, the men she had killed in the past were often bandits who intended her harm or infected who she didn't even consider human anymore. Patrick had been someone she knew. They had hunted together, fought together, had conversations about what their lives had in common.

"Was it all lies?" she wondered, recalling the discussion she had had with Patrick about his parents and his growing up in Helena, Montana.

"I don't get it? Why would Patrick try to kill her?!" Robert was still utterly confused by the situation.

"That's not the major problem here, like Ellie said, there's more than one of these infiltrators in Jackson." John pointed out.

"Exactly." Ellie agreed.

"We need to tell this to Tommy."

"Right, let's go. The demo team's here anyway."

"Demo team?" Ellie inquired as they passed by the men hauling homemade explosives on their way out.

"Tommy sent them in to blow the tunnel and seal it off." John explained.

The group had just set foot outside and was on its way back to the garage, when John placed a hand on Ellie's shoulder.

"Are you alright?" he asked quietly.

Ellie said nothing, but nodded. John however, looked skeptical.

"You did what you had to, you know."

"You don't have to explain it to me, John." Ellie muttered, clearly keen to drop the subject, and John decided not to pursue it further.

"BOOOOM!" a loud explosion reverberated throughout the town, though it muffled tone told Ellie that it had not originated from the town itself.

"What the hell?!" Robert gasped.

Ellie looked around and noted a massive plume of smoke rising from beyond the ridge just outside town and her stomach dropped.

"The dam." She whispered.

* * *

Joel looked over the MG turret before him and gave a brief overview. Being a former gun smuggler, he had experience in telling how functional a gun was. Tommy was, for the most part, correct. The gun didn't appear to have any damage or corrosion. With a good cleaning it would be good as new. However, there was still the fact that it was a .50 caliber gun.

"Where you gonna get ammo for this monster?" he inquired as he and Tommy took it apart to clean.

"It runs off from rare fire, but we managed to salvage some off of a military outpost that was abandoned in Casper." Tommy explained.

"How much?"

"A few boxes, maybe 300 rounds all together. Not much, but enough to get us out of a pinch if we need it."

"Maybe we wrestle a bit out of the tanks at that old depot if they ain't completely stripped."

"Maybe. I'll send a scavenging party tomorrow and…"

"BOOOOM!" the explosion interrupted Tommy, who ducked slightly at the sound.

Joel immediately dropped his rag and ran outside. He reached a point in the street where he could make out a great column of smoke rising up from beyond the ridge. He didn't even need to try and remember what was beyond those hills. The lights in the garage flickered and then extinguished, along with all the tools and other electrical implements.

People began to shout and panic, and Joel could see confused and anxious faces filter out of the buildings around him. They were all staring at the same thing: the smoke from the dam.

"Bandits? Saboteurs? What about Ross and his team?" questions floated amongst the crowd.

"What the hell happened?" Tommy whispered, now standing next to Joel and also watching the smoke.

"Someone has blown up the dam." Ellie's voice startled Joel, who spun around to see her standing behind him and Tommy.

His eyes were immediately drawn to her right had which was stained with blood and he moved closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you hurt? What happened?"

"Patrick tried to kill me." Ellie replied bluntly, causing Tommy to turn around as well.

"What?" he gasped in disbelief.

"He tried to kill me." She repeated.

There was fire in Joel's eyes and she felt his grip on her shoulder tighten. "Where is he?" he growled in a voice that meant murder.

"It's fine, I took care of him." Ellie assured Joel, placing a hand on his.

"What about the dam?" someone shouted.

"Alright, listen up, I need a group of volunteers to go out and check on Ross and the others out at the dam." Tommy shouted to the surrounding crowd.

"I'll go!" right on cue, Ellie spoke up.

"No!" and per his cue Joel objected immediately.

"Why don't you both go, I'll go as well." John suggested.

Joel and Ellie exchanged glances, and then both nodded slowly. "Alright." Joel agreed, heading back toward his house to get his revolver.

"Any others?" Tommy inquired.

"Yeah, I'll go." Said Alex, surprising Ellie a little as Alex hardly ever volunteered for anything.

"Me too." Robert also stepped forward.

"Anyone else?" No one else came forward. "Alright, y'all head out and try to get it back online if you can. If that fence ain't working by nightfall we could be in some serious shit."

"You got it." John agreed before leading the group toward the stables.

As they walked on, Ellie looked back at the smoke column and felt a twinge of dread.

"You think Ross and his team are dead?" Alex asked her.

"More than likely they're the ones who blew it up, Alex." Ellie replied quietly.

"Guess we'll find out."

A little under an hour later, the five of them were riding horses down the road toward the hydroelectric dam that was the life of Jackson. Without it their lights didn't work, nor their tools, or their heaters in the winter. And, most importantly, the electric fence, which kept their cattle in and the bandits and infected out, no longer existed. Yes, it was true to say that the dam was the heart of Jackson, and now someone had just plunged a dagger into it.

"And worst of all, it may have been the very men we trusted to guard it." Ellie thought as they rode on.

"I wish you would have let me come with you." Joel spoke up suddenly after a period of silence.

"I'm fine, Joel, I can take care of myself."

"If I had been there I could have…"

"It doesn't matter. It's done."

She was right of course. Still, it always hurt Joel when Ellie was forced to kill. He had blood on his hands, sure. Enough to fill his body three times over, but that was a hard burden to bear, one he did not want Ellie to have. Perhaps it was impossible to avoid killing in the world they lived in now, but Ellie herself, always volunteering for dangerous duties, seemed to actively seek it. What was she trying to prove?

"Here we are." John's announcement drew Joel out of his worries and he looked up to see the gates to the hydroelectric complex a few feet down the road.

The massive smoke plume was revealed to be coming from a crater just outside the gate where some explosion had evidently taken part. Joel approached the crater and dismounted his horse. John shortly followed suit and kneeled down next to the elder also inspecting the crater.

"If the explosion happened out here, then the dam isn't damaged. So why did the power go out?" he wondered aloud.

"Someone must have shut off the conduits." Robert suggested.

"Well if the explosion wasn't meant to damage the dam, what was the point of it?" Alex spoke up.

"To bring us here." Joel said darkly, drawing his revolver and moving slowly toward the gate of the plant.

As he approached, Joel's eyes, perhaps not as young as they used to be but still sharp as ever, noted the cloud of particles floating from the crack between the doors.

"Shit." He muttered as he backed away quickly, "spores."

Everyone in the group was carrying a backpack on them. These 'kits' were given to any party sent outside of Jackson and contained rifle ammo, pistol ammo, a gas mask, and a first aid kit. They had taken years to make as gathering the necessary supplies for them took time, but they had over fifty of them. Five of these kits were now in the groups' possession, and so everyone (save Ellie of course) took a gas mask from their kit and placed it over their faces. The rest of the group then dismounted, an assortment of weapons ranging from rifle, to pistols, to shotguns being their armament. They approached the gates together, and John and Joel took up position on either side, with Ellie behind Joel and Alex behind her, while Robert took up behind John.

"One…two…three…GO!" Joel shouted, and he and John burst through the gates.

The source of the spores was apparent almost immediately. In the center of the open courtyard of the complex was a massive canister that looked like the kind that held helium for balloons. However, it was spewing the deadly airborne seeds into the air. Joel approached the canister and twisted the valve on the side until the toxic stream had ceased. The whole air was saturated with them.

"Jesus Christ who would do this?" Gasped Alex as he looked around at two or three bodies scattering the courtyard.

"I don't know, but I guess we know what happened to Ross and his team." Said Ellie, checking for a pulse on one of the bodies.

"Brilliant conclusion, Ellie." A voice sounded, and they all jumped in surprise.

Joel turned and saw a bulky man with blond hair wearing a gas mask and holding a shotgun that was resting over his shoulder standing on the observation balcony of the main generator room. John was the first to recognize him.

"Ross?" he shouted up to him.

"Morning Joel, what brings you to my neck of the woods?"

"You sick bastard, what have you done?!" Ellie screamed up at him.

Ross laughed a cruel mirthless laugh.

"Ever ready to be enemies Ellie? You didn't even give me a chance to explain."

"I DON'T NEED TO HEAR YOUR BULLSHIT!" Ellie screamed, raising he rifle and firing.

The bullet just barely missed Ross's head before slamming into the concrete wall beyond him. He glanced at the hole left behind and looked back down at Ellie.

"Rather brash I would think. You should teach your girl self control, Joel." Ross called down in a mocking tone.

"What the hell's going on here Ross?" John demanded.

"It's very simple. You're gonna give me Ellie, and in return, I'll give Jackson back its power."

Joel moved in front of Ellie. "Like hell we are!"

"Come now, Joel. How long you think your town's gonna last without the electric fence to guard it. I suggest you be sensible and hand her over." Ross reminded him.

"There's one of you and five of us. What's to stop us from walking in there and turning the power on ourselves?" John pointed out to their former comrade.

"This!" Ross revealed a remote control looking device with an antenna he was holding in his other hand. "This is the remote detonator to a block of C4 on the wall of the dam. And we all know Jackson doesn't have the equipment to rebuild that."

"Oh shit!" whispered Alex.

"I know." John whispered.

"If he blows the dam there's no way we could rebuild it."

"I KNOW!" John hissed back angrily, causing Alex to go quiet.

John looked back up and let out a defeated sigh.

"What do you want us to do?"

"Send Ellie inside, with no weapons or anything. I'll collect her there and you will wait ten minutes before entering. Once you do, you may turn the power on and remove the C4 charge from the dam. Not a second before, you understand?"

All eyes were on Ellie now. She looked around at them, then slowly handed her rifle Alex who took it with a worried look. She then began to walk toward the door of the plant, but Joel stopped her.

"There's gotta be another way." His said quietly to John.

"Do you have one?"

Joel was silent for a few minutes, and finally shook his head in defeat. Ellie gently grabbed his hand and pulled it off her shoulder before heading toward the plant once more. Ross watched her until she had headed inside, and then headed in himself. Once they were both gone, John let out a frustrated sigh.

"I'm not cool with this just handing her over!" Alex spoke irritably.

"I'll ask you the same question: do you have a better solution that doesn't end with the loss of the dam?"

"I don't but still…"

"See it as a necessary compromise."

"More like appeasement."

"I don't…"

"Excuse me gentlemen?" Robert cut into their argument suddenly.

"What?" Alex and John demanded with almost one voice.

Robert glanced around briefly before speaking again.

"Where's Joel?"

* * *

_Poor Ellie, you gotta give her kudos for being a brave one though. Glad for all the faithful reviewing and following, and I hope you all have been enjoying the story thus far. Please review if you can find the time and let me know if otherwise. Cheers. _


	5. The dam bursts

Chapter 5

The dam bursts

Ellie passed through the doors and into the dam's main generator complex. She could remember being led through here ten years ago by Tommy's wife Maria. They had been talking and laughing, Ellie making jokes about Joel's stiff nature and how he "never seemed to have fun even after all the jokes she read to him". It had been nice, to talk and laugh with someone again. The last few weeks had been nothing but walking, running, killing, and surviving. To be able to feel human again for just a few minutes was a rare blessing. Ellie passed through the generator room without incident and moved into the converter room. One thing she did note was that every room was filled with spores, and that each room had at least one, sometimes two, canisters like the one they had found outside spewing the deadly seedlings.

"He must have contaminated the entire plant. After all, there's no way he could have taken on his whole team by himself." She thought, noting the occasional unconscious body slumped against the wall as she continued on.

The conduit room was a massive chamber that was taken up by a large device on the far wall that was covered in wires of every kind. Near the device was the control panel, and she quickly located the on/off switch and reached for it.

"Ah, ah, ah, not so fast, Ellie." Someone grabbed her from behind and pinned her arms against her sides.

Ellie began to struggle as she was pulled away from the panel. However, her assailant released her as soon as they were a few feet from the panel, and she spun to see Ross with his shotgun aimed at her.

"Steady now." He cautioned her, "wouldn't want things getting out of hand would we?"

"What do you want with me?" Ellie demanded, not taking her eyes of the gun.

"Well now, that's a rather long answer I'm afraid, and we don't have time for it. C'mon." he reached for her arm, but she pulled away causing a frown to fall on his face, "you know I don't _have _to bring you in alive."

"Great, let's go with that!" Ellie kicked him hard in the shin and, as Ross doubled over in pain, she reached over and grabbed the detonator from his belt.

She then attempted to run, but Ross, now recovered, grabbed her and pulled her back, causing them both to fall backward. They hit the floor with a thud and the shotgun clattered across the floor, coming to a stop after hitting the nearby wall. At first they both stayed still trying to catch their bearings, but Ross shifted and stood, staring down furiously as Ellie.

"You fucking bitch!" he shouted, diving at her.

Ellie did a barrel roll and thus managed to avoid the frantic Ross. She then got to her feet once more and made for the door to the room. Unfortunately, the door was now closed and, as a tug on the handle revealed, also locked. Ellie spun and saw Ross walking toward her, a look in his eyes that was after every drop of blood in her body. Ellie reached into her pocket and pulled out the one thing she had been smart enough to keep on her: her switchblade. Upon the blade springing forth, she noted it was still a little red from Patrick's blood.

"Soon to be joined by the blood of another traitor." She thought grimly as she readied the weapon for the advancing Ross.

Ross and Patrick were two different people, however. While Patrick had had little experience in combat, Ross had been a soldier before deserting for a "simpler life" as he had told Ellie and the others in Jackson. With this experience under his belt, Ross paused and stopped his rush after noticing the knife and went into a fighting stance. They circled one another like dogs until Ellie took a swipe at him. Ross jumped back, dodging the blade easily enough. Ellie attempted a backwards slash, but this too was dodged by Ross as he moved away and managed to deliver a blow to her abdomen. Ellie let out a grunt and backed away a little, still waving her knife so that Ross would keep his distance.

"_He's more experienced at this. You have to outwit him."_ Joel's voice scolded her in her mind.

Among the many things the two had spent time on, self-defense had been a priority for Joel. While it was true that Ellie could hold her own quite well in a fight (her encounter with David had proved as much) but her fighting style was still rough and improvised. Over the years Joel had taught her his own fighting techniques, which were considerable considering his long history of being a smuggler or "surviving" as he so auspiciously called it. They had spent many afternoons sparring and as Ross circled around her, Joel's teaching echoed in Ellie's brain.

"_First off distract him. Make him watch one hand instead of the other." _

"Right." Thought Ellie as she alternated her blade between hands to keep Ross guessing which direction the strike might come from.

This appeared to irritate her attacker, who made an effort to grab at the hand holding the knife. This time it was Ellie who saw the attack coming and she quickly shifted her knife to the other hand by dropping it with one and catching it with the other. So when Ross grabbed her now empty hand, she stabbed the knife into his side.

Ross gave a grunt, but still maintained his composure and delivered a solid punch to Ellie's jaw, causing her to stumble back. In doing so, she released her knife, leaving it still embedded in Ross's side. Said ex-soldier stumbled back and grasped the handle before pulling the blade out of his body with a grunt of pain. Ross examined the knife for a few moments, and then looked up at Ellie with a wicked grin.

"You know Ellie, we shouldn't really be fighting." He began slowly, reaching up and, to Ellie's utter shock, pulling off his mask. "We are so much alike after all."

"What do you want from me?" the young woman demanded, still wary of the knife in Ross's hand as he moved slowly toward her.

"We want you to help us, Ellie. Use your gift that God has given you to further His will."

"I tried; there is no way to make a cure."

"We don't seek that kind of cure. We wish to cure humanity of the cycle of life and death. To free them from the vicious system of selfish and unreasonable cruelty that governs their lives. Those who have been liberated no longer long for anything, they no longer think only of themselves, they are free of the evils of human nature." Ross ranted on as he inched closer and closer.

Ellie stared at him in utter shock at the wild message he was preaching. "You're insane." She retorted angrily.

"I was told to bring you in alive, Ellie. That doesn't mean I have to!" Ross lunged at her, grabbing Ellie by the arm and pulling her toward him, the other hand holding the knife ready to plunge into her heart.

However, Ellie managed to twist herself so that the knife passed by her side, leaving only a small cut. She then brought her elbow down on Ross's arm where his elbow joint was, causing his to cry out and his grip on her arm to weaken allowing her to pull free. Ross still had her knife, however, and he took another slash at her as she backed away. Suddenly, she felt a bump on her back and turned to see that she had backed right into the wall of the room. Ross advanced swiftly and pinned her against the wall with his full body weight. He then thrust the knife at Ellie's face, but she managed to free one arm and grabbed his hand in an effort to stop him. They wrestled over the sharp killing tool, the blade slowly drawing nearer and nearer to her face despite her best efforts to push it back.

"I should do it!" Ross hissed, his face inches from her ear, "I should give you exactly what you gave Patrick!"

Ellie let out a desperate whimper as the knife came inches within her right eye.

"What a shame to ruin such a pretty face!"

"BAM!" a gun shot rang out suddenly, and Ross's whole body gave a jerk.

At first all he did was blink in surprise, and then he looked down. Ellie followed his gaze and saw a patch of blood starting to grow on Ross's shirt near his liver. The traitor groaned as he slid to the floor, revealing a panting Joel standing behind him with his revolver drawn and smoke floating from the barrel.

"JOEL!" Ellie exclaimed as she ran past the fallen Ross and hugged her savoir tightly.

Joel hugged her tightly back, but they embrace was cut short by a groan issued by Ross who was still alive. Joel released Ellie and walked over to the man, using his foot to turn his over and retrieve the remote detonator from his belt. Joel threw the remote on the ground and stomped on it viciously, shattering it to pieces. The pair let out a collective sigh of relief, but Ross started laughing (or at least as best he could with his wound). Joel kneeled down and rough turned Ross over who was grinning triumphantly.

"Good work Joel, except for one thing." The mortally wounded man whispered, "The charge is set to go off if the detonator is destroyed unless I input a shut off code. I'd say you have maybe five minutes before it goes."

Joel and Ellie exchanged horrified glances. "Oh shit." Ellie whispered, and Joel turned back to Ross, grabbing the man's collar in both hands and pulling him up so his face was near Joel's.

"What's the code?" the Texan demanded, shaking Ross slightly.

Ross laughed loudly for a few seconds. Then, as his laughter died off his eye grew blank and hollow. Ross was dead.

"Oh no, shit, shit, shit, shit" Joel muttered as he released Ross's now limp body and got back to his feet. He turned to Ellie and grabbed her shoulders urgently.

"Get back to John and the others and go tell Tommy about all of this." He instructed her, causing Ellie to frown.

"What about you?" she asked.

"I have to stop the explosive." Was all Joel said before running toward the door to the catwalks that lead out to the dam. He paused briefly at the door and turned to see Ellie still watching him anxiously.

"Joel, I won't…" she began, but he cut her off.

"GO!" he shouted, causing Ellie to nod in defeat and run toward the door leading back to the entrance to the complex.

Joel watched until she had gone through the door and was out of sight before heading out to the catwalks. Despite being a man of his years, Joel pounded down the metal walkway over the flowing waters of the Snake River below toward the massive dam wall as fast as his legs would carry him. He and Ellie had crossed this wall at one point ten years ago, but now the large metal filters they had used a bridges were already in locked position. Sure enough, right in the center of the metal filters was a massive block of C4. Joel took a deep breath and then moved slowly out onto the metal tops. The roar of the water going over the edge behind him muffled the beeping that came from the timer on the explosive which, true to Ross's words, was ticking down from one minute and thirty seconds.

"Okay, okay, looks like a simple device, nothing to complicated." He thought, drawing on his smuggler's knowledge in examining the device.

He reached down toward the bomb in an effort to further investigate, but a whizzing sound followed by a ping on the metal next to him caused Joel to jump back. He looked at the spot and saw a hole that could have been made by only one thing.

"Someone's shooting at me." He thought.

Another bullet whizzed by, this one sounding even closer. No, he wasn't being shot at, he was being _sniped _at. Joel kneeled down trying to make himself small as possible, but knew he was an open target out on the metal filters.

"Joel!" the sound of the voice made the Texan's heart stop.

He looked over to see Ellie standing on the catwalks behind him, staring at him with wide, horrified eyes.

"The sniper!" the words rang through Joel's mind as he screamed at Ellie.

"GET DOWN!"

"WHAT?" she couldn't hear him over the rush of the water.

"ELLIE, GET DOWN N…." Joel had stood up and begun to run back toward the catwalk, when the sniper took another shot. This one was not aimed at Joel however. The sniper, being an expert marksman, fired at the ticking bomb, and the bullet struck the frame of the C4.

"BOOOOOOOM!" Joel was flung into the air by the explosion (he was lucky really, had he been any closer it would have likely killed him) and he let out a yell as he flew through the air over the edge of the dam and down into the frothing waters below the long plunge. Water rushed forward no unimpeded in a massive title wave through the massive hole in the dam. Ellie, who had fallen back from the explosion, held a hand over her face as water cascaded over her from the explosion. When the great wave had passed, she looked up and saw the water flowing through the gap where Joel had previously been standing.

Ellie felt sick, sicker than she had ever felt before. Standing with her heart racing, Ellie looked around for any sign of the man who had always been like a father to her. When she could see no sign of him, an intense heat welled up in her that soon released through her eyes in the form of tears.

"JOOOOOEL, NOOOOO!" she screamed.

Her cry were drown out by the roaring and rushing of the escaping water and she crumpled back to her knees as she continued to weep bitterly, still staring at the massive gap and whispering over and over again.

"No…."

* * *

_Man I'm sure I'm gonna take some heat for that ending. Did Joel survive? I if not, how will Ellie deal with it? Guess you lot will have to wait till the next chapter to find out. Meanwhile, I felt as though the fight scenes were a little rough, but I'm a perfectionist so my judgment can be a bit over zealous. Review and let me know what you think, it would be much appreciated. Cheers. _


	6. Endure and survive

Chapter 6

Endure and survive

Ellie wasn't sure how long she had lay on her knees staring at the destroyed dam. The tears had lessened in volume and now only the occasional drop slid down her cheeks. They had endured it all together. Sure she had only known Joel ten years, but he had been the closest thing to a father she had had. Her own father had really done nothing with her. Sure, he had arranged for her to be placed in that military academy (her father being a general after all) but she had seen little or heard of him after that. Last she had heard he was sitting at a desk governing some QZ on the west coast with an iron fist. But that been more than ten years ago and she knew little more of him now. No, Joel had been there when her biological father hadn't. He had taught her to swim, to fight….to live.

"Ellie?!" the shout caused her to look to her left.

John and Alex were making their way down the catwalk toward her. Both had concerned looks on their faces when they noticed the tears flowing from Ellie's eyes.

"What happened? Are you hurt?" John asked quietly as he knelt down next to Ellie, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"He…he…he was right there. One moment he was there, the next he was gone. Nothing but smoke. Jesus Christ why did I distract him?" Ellie whispered, still staring at the broken dam.

John looked up at the massive gap and then back at Ellie. "Who?"

"Joel."

The older man let out a sigh of mourning as he realized what Ellie was saying.

"We have to get back to Jackson, without the fence they'll be defenseless. They'll need every man they can get." John announced, standing back up.

"What about Joel? What happened?" Alex inquired.

The question caused Ellie to bury her face in her hands and let out a muffled sob. John placed a comforting hand on her shoulder once more and looked up Alex with a sad expression.

"He's gone."

"We need to go, now!" Robert's voice announced his arrival as he rushed toward the trio.

"Where have you been?" Alex demanded angrily, "you just disappeared."

"I heard gunshots and I went to investigate. I found this." Robert explained, holding up a rifle with a high power scope.

"Where the hell did you find that?" John demanded, looking at the rifle.

"The overhang down the cliff a ways."

"Shit that means some sniper's out there in those woods right now." Alex realized with anxiety filling his voice.

"Ellie, c'mon, we gotta move." John helped Ellie to her feet and half-carried, half-dragged her down the catwalk back through the dam complex and to the front gates where they're horses waited.

Once they were out, the three men removed their gas masks, clearly happy to be sucking in pure air again. After placing the masks back in their packs, Alex, Robert, and John mounted their horses. Ellie hesitated briefly, and then mounted her ride as well. However, as the three men began to trot back toward Jackson, Ellie's steed stood motionless as she watched them go. John noted this and stopped his horse before turning back to look at Ellie.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

"No." said Ellie with a shake of her head.

"Huh?" Alex gasped.

"I have to find him." Ellie explained in a shaky but resolute voice.

At this, John had his horse maneuver so that he was fully facing Ellie. "Ellie, he's dead." He told her firmly.

"Then I'll bring back his body!" Ellie snapped, her voice rising sharply, causing John to fall silent, looking a trifle hurt. Ellie let out a sigh.

"I can't just leave him for dead, John, I can't." she said in a quieter voice, "I owe him that much."

John stared at her wordless for a minute or so. Then, he seemed to finally relent and rode closer to Ellie. He reached behind his back and pulled out a 9mm pistol which he offered to her.

"You may want something to protect yourself other than that switchblade of yours. There should be a good amount of ammo in your pack." He said as she took the piece.

"Thanks." Ellie replied with a nod.

John stared at her again with a look of concern, but also admiration. She was a brave young lady, perhaps too brave for her own good. Nonetheless, it was a bravery that John had always respected, and he would do no less now. Still, that didn't mean it sat right with him sending Ellie out into that wilderness alone.

"She can take care of herself, you know that better than most." He reminded himself.

"Good luck." Was all he said before turning and riding toward Jackson once more.

Robert followed John without a word, but Alex stayed where he was and watched as Ellie turned her horse and trotted off into the woods in the opposite direction.

"You're just gonna let her go alone?" Alex shouted incredulously to John.

"You wanna go with her? Better get going before she gets too far ahead. As for us, we're going back to Jackson." John called back, turning to Robert as he said this last part, and the latter nodded in agreement.

There were no more words as John and Robert picked up speed and started off. Alex stayed still for a few minutes longer, glancing from the direction Ellie had gone to the direction John and Robert where now taking. At last, with a defeated sigh, he started off after John and Robert.

"Be safe, Ellie." He whispered after his companion as he rode off.

* * *

"_Why are we doing this?!" _

"_I'm not her, you know; your daughter Sarah." _

"_You're right, I'm not your father and you're not my daughter."_

"_Look me in the eye and swear to me what you said about the Fireflies is true."_

"_I swear."_

"_Wake up, Texas."_

Joel's eyes fluttered open. For a moment he just lay on his back staring up at the sky which had begun to turn orange with the setting sun. The sounds of running water and birds chirping filled his ears as he let out a groan and attempted to stand. A sharp pain in his back kept him from doing so, and he let out a cry before falling back flat. He lay there for a few minutes catching his breath and staring up at the purple and orange sky. Suddenly, a form moved in his view. It was someone's head and upper body, and Joel squinted up at the mysterious figure.

"Get up, Texas." Said an all too familiar voice.

"Tess?" Joel muttered in a cracked voice.

The sunlight cleared and Tess's face seemed to materialize before him, looking down at him with a mixture of pity and contempt.

"C'mon Texas, you gotta get up." She repeated, gesturing as much and glancing over her shoulder, "you ain't gonna be alone for long."

Joel attempted to stand once more and this time, in spite of the pain in his back, he managed to get to his feet after a few tries. As soon as he stood, Joel examined himself for injuries. His revolver and gas mask were gone, lost to the river. As to physical injuries, he had his fair share. The back of his right arm was burned, though not badly. He also had several deep cuts on his back, most likely from shrapnel. Once he was done assessing himself, Joel glanced over and saw Tess standing a few feet away both hands on her hips and staring at him a look that was a mixture of annoyance and impatience.

"You're dead. I saw your body." Said Joel, staring in disbelief at his former gun runner partner.

"Brilliant conclusion, you gonna stand there and gape or are you gonna get going. You got company coming." Tess retorted with a sneer.

No sooner had she said this when Joel heard a series of voices coming from the woods not far from him.

"Who's that?" he asked, peering into the trees.

"I guarantee that they aren't here to help you, Texas. I suggest you get moving."

"How are you alive?"

"Who says I am?"

"You expect me to believe you're a ghost?"

"Look, we haven't got time to be arguing about this. You wanna except my help or argue about technicalities?" Tess retorted with a frustrated sigh.

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"I suggest you get moving before those men find you." Tess gestured in the direction the voices were coming from.

Still trying to decided if what he was seeing was a hallucination or if he was just simply losing his mind, Joel _did _decide that the owners of the voices he was hearing probably did not mean him well, so he moved (as best he could with his injured back paining him greatly) into the woods before him and began to make his way slowly through the brush.

"What was that? I thought I heard something!" the voices were getting louder, but Joel could move no faster, and he dared not crouch to muffle his movements as he feared he would fall and not be able to get back up before his pursuers were upon him.

"You gotta move faster, Texas." Tess's voice urged him, though he could no longer see her.

"I'm going as fast I can, damn it!" Joel hissed back.

"GOTCHA!" someone lunged from the nearby foliage, causing Joel to stumble back. He would have fallen on his ass had it not been the tree he backed into and thus was able to lean against to offset the momentum.

A man dressed in a coat with a ski hat on and a thick beard stood before him holding a shotgun pointed at him.

"I got someone, over here!" the man shouted, still holding Joel at shotgun point.

For a few minutes the two men stared at one another, each weighing the other out. Joel did not even attempt to hide his condition, it would have been pointless. Soon, two other armed men arrived and joined their comrade in aiming their weapons at the injured Joel.

"Easy fellas, I ain't after any trouble." Joel said slowly, grimacing a little at the pain in his back.

The man with the shotgun grinned maliciously, noting the grimace and raising his shotgun a little.

"I don't think you're in any condition to be negotiating, mister." He noted.

"Whatcha you wanna do with him?" asked one of the other bandits.

"I say we shoot him, take whatever he's got and go." Suggested the other.

"Sounds good enough to me." The man with the shotgun agreed and squinted, aiming down his sights.

Joel knew he had to do something or else he was a dead man. But what could he do? His injured back would not allow any swift movement and the man with the gun was far enough away that he would tear a hole in Joel's belly with pellets before he reached him. Plus, even if Joel did reach him in time, his armed compatriots would gun him down in an instant. He was still trying desperately to formulate a plan when a loud wail echoed from the forest, causing the three men to tremble and the one to take his shotgun off Joel and focus his attention on the surrounding foliage. For a few minutes there was silence so complete and utter that it made a shiver run down Joel's back, causing him to groan as it also set off another wave of pain.

"You hear that?"

"Yeah."

"We gotta get outta here."

"Right, let's just waste this son of a bitch and roll." The shot gunner refocused on Joel and raised his shotgun again.

"REEEEEAAAAAH!" an inhuman screech pierced the air and a Runner burst from the trees, leaping at the shot gunner.

The bandit didn't have enough time to react before the monster was upon him. The Runner tackled him to the ground and buried its teeth in his neck. The man's screams turned into gurgles as blood filled his throat and poured from his neck.

"FUCK!" shouted one of the surviving bandits as he fired on the Runner with his pistol.

However, several more shrieks announced the arrival of three more Runners who descended on the remaining men. Joel watched in horror, but silent satisfaction as the two others were overwhelmed and knocked to the ground where the infected began to tear them open and disembowel them. Unfortunately, Joel didn't have long to enjoy his victory. The first Runner looked up and, upon catching sight of Joel, let out a screech and charged at him.

Ignoring the pain in his back, Joel flung his weight to the left and his body followed. The Runner slammed face first into the tree he had been lying against and crumpled to the ground. His buddies were on their feet now and were howling and screeching at Joel. Said survivor started to run as fast he could (the pain in his back causing him to limp a little) pushing through the branches and other dense foliage. This vegetation gave him the advantage of slowing his pursuers who fought their way through as well. Joel heaved and gasped against the pain as he continued to flee the infected, who were gaining steadily.

"Damn it, where are you Tess!?" he thought desperately as he tripped and fell briefly before getting back to his feet and continuing running.

"You're almost there, Joel, just a little further." Tess's voice seemed to come from the forest around him.

Joel glanced back behind him. One of the Runners was so close that he could see the thing's glowing eyes and the hideous fungus growing out of the lesions on his face and neck. Blood was covering its mouth which was open emitting a vicious scream and Joel could see bits of flesh and blood covering the thing's teeth. Suddenly, the trees gave way to a massive clearing. Joel stumbled forward a little, surprised by the woods' sudden ending. He paused briefly to catch his breath, wheezing painfully. He then glanced up and saw a cabin a few feet away. It was just your average log cabin, like something out of a pioneer story book, but still it was better than nothing.

Joel, using the little bit of energy he had, charged toward the cabin door, praying it was unlocked. That at least, providence granted him and the door opened smoothly as he twisted the handle. He then slammed the oak slab behind him, listening to the pursuing infected slam it with shrieks of pain and frustration. Joel stumbled inside and was greeted with a small, three room layout. The main room had a fireplace and two chairs seated near it along with a metal stove. It was like something out of "Little House on the Prairie". Joel moved into the study where there was desk with a chair in front of it. Seated in the chair was the skeleton of what was formally, Joel assumed, the cabin's occupant. A Colt pistol was clutched in the man's hand, and Joel pried it out of the skeleton's grip, breaking off a few finger bones in the process, and moving back out into the living room.

The infected could still be heard banging on the door, and Joel aimed the gun at the door in preparation that they break through. However, after several more minutes of banging and wailing, the things went silent. For a minute or so more Joel didn't move. All he could hear was the sound of his heavy, erratic breathing and his pounding heart. After several long seconds had gone by he suddenly became acutely aware of the pain in his back once more. The sharp stinging had intensified if that was possible and he collapsed against the wall of the room for a moment, groaning through his teeth at the pain.

He lay like that for some time, just trying to fight the pain and catch his breath. Once he felt he could, Joel stood and moved slowly in order to lessen the spasms in his back. He returned to the study where he proceeded to study the body. A hole in the side of the man's head and the fact that he had been holding a gun told Joel that the man had committed suicide (or perhaps it had been a woman, it was hard to tell from a skeleton).

"Decided it wasn't worth it, huh hoss?" Joel muttered as he searched the desk for anything useful.

He found a half drunk bottle of vodka in one of the drawers and, after looking at it thoughtfully for a few seconds, headed back out into the living room. Here he took one of the curtains that hung over the windows and ripped it into several long strips. He then splashed vodka on the strips before wrapping one around the cut on his arm. It burned something fierce and he gritted his teeth against the added pain. While this was going on, he took the reaming strips and laid them, as best he could, across the wounds on his back. He then sat down in one of the chairs and leaned back to apply pressure to the makeshift bandages. He grunted once more at the pain as the alcohol did its job. Joel closed his eyes and sighed, leaning his head back. He sat like that for a few minutes before opening his eyes and glancing at the empty chair to his right.

The chair was not empty. Tess sat in it, staring at him. Joel let out a sigh.

"So..." he began.

"So?" Tess asked, clearly expecting him to say more.

"I don't know what you are, but I know you ain't Tess, she's dead."

"Ok."

"Ok? That's it? What the hell?" Joel sighed again, shaking his head.

"What should I say, Joel?"

The latter said nothing for minute before reaching up to rub his tired eyes and give a small yawn.

"I don't know, I don't…"

He leaned back once more, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry, Tess. I'm so sorry." he whispered.

Tess reached over and placed a hand on Joel's arm. "Get some rest, Joel. You're gonna need it."

Joel hadn't even heard her. He was fast asleep in moments. Tess smiled a sad smile as she watched him and squeezed his arm slightly.

"She'll be here soon." She whispered, before disappearing, leaving the sleeping Joel alone.

As he had been the whole time…

* * *

_Things heat up. What was Tess? A ghost? A hallucination? Will Ellie find Joel before it's too late? What do you think? Meantime, no one complained about the fighting sequences, so I'm guessing I did a decent job on them. If there's anything wrong with the chase sequences (or anything really) drop a review letting me know. Hope you're all enjoying the story thus far. Cheers. P.S. we weren't really told much about Ellie's biological father in the game so I figured I'd build on that. We'll see where that goes._


	7. Search and rescue

Chapter 7

Search and rescue

After years of riding horses, Ellie had come to be a sort of an expert in the matter. Sure, it still wasn't the easiest thing to do. The horses were easily spooked by infected and had a tendency to bolt and not return when they appeared. Still, she had a great deal of experience under her belt, and so the young woman had managed to skillfully navigate her horse down the rocky terrain, following the Snake River closely, even through the night. Traveling at night made he the most nervous as it was when the bandits and infected were most active. Nonetheless, she had rode on until the rays of the sun had begun to peak over the tips of the mountains in the east. Ellie and her ride were trotting along the muddy bank of the river which had flattened out as it went on. Something lying in the mud caught the sunlight, causing it to glint and quickly catch the alert Ellie's attention. She stopped her steed and dismounted to investigate. Reaching into the mud she found Joel's revolver.

"He can't be far." She thought, stowing the revolver in her back pack and getting back on her ride, "if he's alive that is."

Ellie shook her head. She wouldn't allow herself to think that way. Joel had been at death's door before and she had saved him. She would do the same now, or die trying. She rode on for several more miles until the sun had risen higher into the sky, indicating it was late morning (she guessed around 10 o' clock) and stopped briefly to have some breakfast. Ellie hadn't eaten anything since late yesterday, so she was quite hungry. While she munched down on a package of beef jerky (homemade by the citizens of Jackson from their ever expanding cattle stocks) Ellie gazed out over the trees and the running river.

"It's beautiful." The young woman muttered to no one in particular.

Her mind wandered back to the time when she had read old books on camping. Back before the Cordyceps, families would pack only the 'essentials' and head out into the woods to 'rough it'. It must have been a favorite past time of many, because there were an awful lot of books on the subject. She had seen pictures of big cars that had stoves and beds, what were they called again…RVs that was it. Ellie had longed to try a camping trip with Joel, but he had always told her that attempting to survive in Jackson was hard enough, let alone in the woods. Still, they had done it hadn't they? On their long journey what seemed like a lifetime ago.

This caused Ellie to recall all that Joel had done for her. Keeping her alive, teaching her to fight, to swim. Her resolve stiffened once more and she placed the jerky back in her back before mounting up once more and riding on. The river began to slow down as she followed it deeper into the forest. Ellie too began to slow her pace as well. With the river's current slowing down, it would mean that whatever was left of Joel would wash up nearby. Eventually it occurred to her that she might have better luck finding evidence of her companion if she was on foot, so she dismounted and tied her horse to a nearby tree.

"I'll be back soon, boy." She told the animal, which was acting oddly skittish.

"Might be infected nearby, gonna need to stay on my toes." Ellie told herself, noting the horse's behavior.

Taking the precaution of pulling out the pistol John had given her, Ellie approached the bank of the Snake River. Upon reaching it, she glanced out over the bank and that opposite her, searching for any sort of clue. She was on her second glance over the opposite bank when she noted some imprints in the mud. Without a second thought she dove into the waters of the river. Ellie had discovered that she loved swimming! Ever since Joel had taught her she would go out ever chance she had for a swim in the reservoir Jackson kept for its crops. The water felt nice and cool on her skin as she stroked through the running waters toward the other side. Her swimming technique wasn't flawless, but it got her to the opposite bank.

Ellie sloshed out of the water and through the mud until she reached the spot and knelt down to examine it. The imprint was clearly caused by someone who had been lying in the mud, and a quick glance around revealed a set of foot prints in the mud that led into the forest.

"He's alive." Ellie realized with a brief glimmer of hope as she started into the woods.

Tracking had been something John had taught her during the hunting trips the two had taken together outside Jackson. Joel himself hadn't been a stellar tracker himself, but Ellie had imparted some of the knowledge John had given her to him. Ellie continued through the woods, following a trail of broken branches, disturbed leaves, and other indicators that a person of some large build had come through. She was so intent on following the trail it was not until she reached a small clearing that she heard the sounds. Grunts and groans could be heard along with the chewing and snapping sound. Ellie stopped and looked up. Her heart froze.

Two Runners were eating a dead body a few feet in front of her, but neither seemed to have noticed her yet. At first she was terrified that the victim was Joel, but what she could see of the dead man's clothing and a shotgun lying near the body told her it was not. Slowly and quietly Ellie backed up, planning to circumnavigate the clearing and hope to pick up Joel's trail on the other side. She took a few steps back before turning to run.

"EEEEEIIIIEAAHHHH" the blood curdling sounded as she came face to face with the scarred and deformed face of a Stalker.

The infected monster launched itself at Ellie, who stumbled back and fell on the ground. The thing advanced on her ravenously. Without hesitation, Ellie raised her pistol and fired. The shot struck the Stalker in the chest and it crumpled to the ground with a groan. Unfortunately, the sounds had attracted the attention of the two Runners who had previously been feasting, and they had stood up and were now racing toward Ellie. Said young lady struggled to her feet and fired at the monsters. One of the shots struck the first Runner and it stumbled backward at the sudden force. Its brother continued its charge and slammed right into Ellie. The pair tumbled to the ground and the Runner attempted to sink its teeth into Ellie's face. The latter managed to get her arm under the things chin and held the gnashing, blood stained teeth away from her as best she could. They struggled for a minute or so, Ellie attempting to keep the thing's face from her own and the other fighting back and, worst of all, slowly gaining ground.

The shrieks of the other Runner revealed that it had recovered from its gunshot wound and was now standing over the grappling pair, clearly about to join the fray; a fight that Ellie would not win under such circumstances. Ellie let out a scream of desperation and tried one last time to push the Runner off of her, throwing every bit of force she had left in her behind her attempt. It did not work, and her reserve exhausted, the thing's gaping mouth quickly descended toward hers.

"BLAM!" the gunshot sounded, causing Ellie to jump a little.

The Runner on top of her went limp, and she pushed its lifeless body off of her. The second Runner was glancing wildly around.

"BLAM, BLAM!" another series of shots were fired, both striking the Runner in the chest and it fell dead.

Ellie lay on her back for a minute, stunned at this sudden turn of events. She slowly got to her feet and spun around and around in an effort to locate the shots' source. She could see nothing but trees, however.

"Hello!" Ellie shouted, "Who's there?"

The sounds of distant shrieks getting louder told Ellie that more infected were on their way, and she decided not to stick around. The redhead turned and began running through the forest, no longer bothering to check and see if she was following Joel's trail. Suddenly, several Runners burst from the surrounding trees behind her and began a pursuit. Ellie turned back and fired at them in mid-run until the gun clicked empty.

"Thanks for the extra ammo, John." Ellie muttered angrily, tossing the useless weapon away as unnecessary weight.

She glanced back and noted that two more Runners had joined the group, brining her pursuers up to five, and her with no gun. It was not a winning combination. Suddenly, a sixth Runner appeared in her path a few feet ahead, snarling and shrieking. Ellie continued to run at the infected until she was only inches from here. She then made a fist and slammed it into the Runner's head. With all the momentum behind her swing, the punch knocked the infected right to the ground and Ellie charged on by, glancing back with an accomplished smile.

The trees gave way once more to a clearing, but this was larger than the previous one upon examination. Ellie stopped briefly and heaved, trying to catch her breath. She glanced up briefly and noticed a small wooden cabin on the far side of the clearing. Wary of the sounds of her pursuers, Ellie jogged toward the cabin and burst through the door before slamming it behind her. She leaned against it, once more trying to catch her breath. At first all was deadly quiet. Suddenly, something hit the door with a loud bang causing Ellie to jump back. The sounds of the infected trying to break through could be heard and she continued to back away in fear.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed her from behind and an arm wrapped around her neck. She felt the cold barrel of a gun being placed against her temple and a hoarse voice whispered: "move and you're dead."

Ellie was shaking as she spoke slowly. "Easy, I'm just trying to hide here. I don't want any trouble." She explained in a nervous and breathless voice.

"Ellie?" it was then that the voice's familiarity hit her, and Ellie attempted to turn and look at her captor.

The man released her and stepped back, allowing Ellie to see the grey bearded face and she gave a laugh of relief.

"Joel!" she gasped, running to him and hugging the elder man, who returned it with enthusiasm.

"Jesus Ellie, what are you doing here?' asked Joel after they had separated.

"I came looking for you."

"Any of the others here?"

"No, they went back to Jackson to tell Tommy about the dam."

"You came out here alone?" Joel's reproachful tone caused a twinge of annoyance in Ellie's stomach. She had just risked her life to come find him.

Before they could argue however, the sounds of the infected banging on the door got louder, and Joel walked over to one of the windows and pulled back the curtain a bit. He was greeted by the blood covered face of an infected pressed against the window and growling. Joel stepped back from the window and aimed his gun at it as the monster began to pound on the glass.

"How long can we hold out?" Ellie asked as she saw Joel's reaction.

"Not long." Joel replied bluntly.

The infected could be heard pounding on the door, the windows, even the walls. "Holy shit, how many of them are there?" Ellie wondered.

The sounds of the glass cracking in the window told Ellie that the cabin would soon be breached, and she grabbed a nearby wooden chair. She turned this over and ripped one of the legs off, actually drawing a look of admiration from Joel.

"She always was a strong one." He thought.

"BRAP, BRAP, BRAP, BLAM, BLAM!" the sounds of gunshots from outside filled the cabin along with the pained shrieks of the infected, causing both Ellie and Joel to duck down at little.

The shots and shrieks went on for several minutes until all fell quiet once more. Not a sound could be heard, which scared the shit out of Ellie.

"What the hell's going on out there?" she hissed.

Joel, after a second or two, moved slowly toward the window and pushed back the curtain. He could nothing in the clearing accept two dead infected lying near the window and a blood spatter on the window itself.

"What the hell…" Joel muttered, gazing at the carnage outdoors. "Who's responsible for this mess?"

The answer was revealed to him a lot sooner than he might have expected. There was movement from the forest on the edge of the clearing and a man dressed in the outfit of a soldier with a bubble helmet and all and armed with an M4 assault rifle stepped out into the open. He glanced around briefly, and then made a strange hand motion, swinging his hand above his head. Four more soldiers appeared from the woods, also carrying assault rifles and began to move toward the cabin. Based off what he could see, the man who had first appeared was in charge of the group as he appeared to be giving orders to the group, which was spreading out and surrounding the cabin. Soon, all that remained in Joel's sight was the leader and a smaller soldier who appeared to have the build of a woman. The leader looked up and stared directly at Joel. TO the Texan's surprise, the man waved.

"Shit!" Joel hissed as he retreated from the window.

"What's going on?" Ellie inquired, seeing the concerned look on his face.

Joel looked over at Ellie with a face that held concern and fear.

"We've got company." He whispered.

"Company?"

"The military."

Ellie pushed past Joel and pulled back the curtain. To her surprise, one of the soldiers was standing right at the window and she stepped back with a shriek of surprise. Joel moved up and stood in front of her defensively. The soldier stared at them for a minute, and then smiled a surprisingly friendly smile.

"Hi there." He said, his voice muffled a bit by the glass.

"May we come in?"

* * *

_Well I'm content that I've left you lot a good deal of questions to be pondering until next chapter. Meantime, drop a review and let me know how I'm doing if you like (criticism or just a 'you're doing a good job' are welcomed). Hope you're all enjoying. Cheers. _


	8. Mission implausible

Chapter 8

Mission implausible

Joel reached forward and closed the curtain once more, shielding him and Ellie from the soldiers' view. For a few minutes the pair sat in silence, expecting some kind of reaction. Were the military men going to rain a hail of bullets through the window, or try talking more? The tense silence was finally broken by a knock on the front door. Ellie and Joel exchanged puzzled looks. After a brief hesitation, Joel approached the door but did not open it. Instead, he called out to the other side: "what do you want?"

"Sir, we would much appreciate if you would let us in." the mysterious soldier (Ellie had managed to catch sight of his stripes which had been that of a Sergeant) said back, his voice continuing to hold the politeness it had always held since he had started speaking.

"No chance." Joel replied immediately and without hesitation.

"Sir, we are coming in whether you want us to or not. I'm giving you the benefit of _inviting _us in so that we may talk civilly, and avoid any bloodshed." The sergeant's voice was surprisingly calm and nonthreatening. His words were more matter-of-fact than malicious.

Joel stayed silent for a minute or so, contemplating the sergeant's words.

"Why would I let you in? For all I know you're just gonna arrest us and drag us off to some base for quarantine and internment." Joel retorted.

"I give you my word, sir no such thing will be attempted." The sergeant replied in what seemed to Ellie a truthful tone.

"I don't know you. What good is your word to me?" Joel's rebuttal was a solid one, and the sergeant remained silent for a good three minutes as he attempted to concoct a reply.

"Well, we did just save your lives. If that isn't enough, I suppose you'll just have to trust me." He said finally.

Joel glanced back at Ellie who shrugged. "He has a point." She reminded, Joel, who let out a sigh. He then looked back at the doorway.

"Alright, I'll let _you _in, but only on condition that you disarm completely at the window where I can see you." Joel relented.

"Done, we'll meet you at the window." The sergeant accepted the terms without argument, surprising Joel slightly.

Nonetheless, the elder survivor moved over to the window once more and pulled back the curtain. Seconds later, the sergeant appeared with the woman soldier standing next to him.

"A corporal." Ellie noted, examining the stripes on the woman soldier.

The sergeant reached up and slid his M4 off his back and let it fall to the ground before taking his hand gun out of his holster and dropping it on the ground. He then reached around and undid his belt which held his knife and several grenades. It slid down his legs and to the ground and he stepped out of it. All the while, the corporal was doing the same. Joel noted this and he gestured toward her.

"She's not coming in." he reminded the sergeant.

The two soldiers exchanged glances. The sergeant looked down at the ground for a moment and let out a sigh before looking back up at Joel.

"Sir, we have been most accommodating to your every demand. I'd ask that you grant us this one concession. The corporal will be accompanying me."

Joel was torn. On one hand, if there was one group he trusted least of all, it was the military, and he had good reason. Still, this sergeant, whoever he was, had been most agreeable and had done most everything he had asked in a reasonable and civil manner, which was opposite most of Joel's experience with soldiers since the outbreak. After careful consideration Joel decided that they would be even anyway since Ellie was perfectly capable of fighting.

"Alright, come around to the door and I'll let you in." he agreed, and the sergeant nodded appreciatively before heading back around toward the front door, the corporal following him.

Joel stepped back and looked at Ellie. "Do you have a gun?" he asked.

Ellie reached into her backpack and pulled out Joel's revolver. "I'm not sure if it works." She admitted quietly.

"It's alright, seein' both of us armed might dissuade 'em enough from trying anything hasty."

There was a knock on the door once more, and this time Joel unlocked the door and opened it. The two soldiers entered, each nodding to Joel as they did. The latter glanced around outside before shutting and relocking the door behind them.

"Alright, just who the hell are you?" Joel demanded, moving so he was standing in front of the pair.

"I'm Sergeant Harold Ira, and this is my second-in-command, Corporal Jennifer LePointe. We're with the L.A.M.F." Sergeant Ira explained, gesturing toward himself and Corporal LePointe respectively.

"L.A.M.F.?" asked Joel in confusion.

"Los Angeles Military Force." Said Ellie, speaking for the first time since the soldiers had entered.

Sergeant Ira, looking over Joel's shoulder, noticed Ellie standing in the living room, and he moved past Joel to so that he was standing in front of Ellie.

"Ellie Beckett?" the Ira inquired.

Joel was shocked by this. He had never heard anyone say Ellie's last name, not even Marlene. He himself only knew it because Ellie had told him a few years ago.

Ellie said nothing, but nodded cautiously.

"What the hell is going on here?! How do you know her name? What is a squad of Los Angeles soldiers doing in Wyoming?" Joel demanded, his irritation clearly rising.

"We have been sent by General Beckett, commander of the Los Angeles Quarantine Zone." Ira explained, ignoring Joel and still looking at Ellie.

At first Ellie looked shocked. However, as the seconds ticked by her shocked face changed to one of incredulousness.

"It's been sixteen years, and now he suddenly starts giving a fuck? You gotta be kidding me." She hissed angrily.

"I'm not informed as to the relations between you two, but of course that was none of my business. In any case, we have orders to transport out to the commander center in Cheyenne where he is waiting for you." Ira explained with a shrug.

"You aren't taking her anywhere!" Joel shouted, pulling the .45 from his belt.

In one swift motion, Corporal LePointe grabbed Joel's arm and twisted it behind his back, causing him to give a cry of pain and drop his gun. Seeing Joel under threat, Ellie stepped back a few feet and held up the revolver, aiming it at LePointe.

"Wait!" Ira shouted, stepping in front of the gun, his hands raised in plea. Ellie hesitated, and grudgingly lowered the revolver.

The sergeant turned his head to look back at the corporal. "Let him go." He ordered her, and she agreed, albeit clearly reluctant.

Once Joel was released, Ira turned back to Ellie. "I suggest you bring your friend up to speed. We'll be camped out in the woods nearby. When you're ready to talk again, shoot off a shot outside." He told her before heading back toward the door and gesturing for LePointe to follow him. They exited the cabin, leaving only a flabbergasted Joel staring at Ellie.

"Who the hell is General Beckett?" he asked, thought in his heart he already knew the answer.

Ellie said nothing for what seemed like a lifetime to Joel. Finally, she looked up at him.

"He's my father." She said quietly.

They spent the next two hours discussing more of Ellie's past then she ever wanted to remember. She told Joel about her mother taking a job as General Beckett's secretary at the QZ in Philadelphia. How her mother and the general had fallen in love with in each other, and how Ellie had been the result. How the general, fearing for his rank and reputation upon learning of her mother's pregnancy, had fired her and ceased all communication.

"Marlene came to mom and offered to help her. I guess she figured that mom might be a good source of information for the Fireflies, but they ended up becoming good friends." Ellie explained, her and Joel now seated in the chairs before the fireplace.

"So what about General Beckett?" Joel inquired.

"Mom never heard from him, even after she gave birth to me. Mom died when I was eight and Marlene sent me to one of her friends and helped take care of me for a few months until some soldiers arrived and demanded that Marlene's friend hand me over. She did, and they took me to Boston where I met my father for the first time. He told me I was his daughter and that he was going to 'take care of me'." Ellie said these last words bitterly and an angry look came over her face, "his way of taking care of me was to stick me in that military academy and never speak to me again. I haven't heard from him until now."

"How did he find you?"

"I don't know."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence between the two as Joel took in the information he had been given. It occurred to him that he had never really known a lot about Ellie's past. Sure she had told him her last name, but that was really about it. Then again, he had never told her much about himself (aside from things he and Sarah would do on occasion) so perhaps she felt she owed him nothing in that regard. Still, all of this sudden information was a little overwhelming.

"What are we going to do?" Ellie broke the silence.

"I got no idea." Joel admitted solemnly, "five of 'em with automatic rifles against the two of us with just pistols, there's no way we'd win."

"I don't want to go with them, Joel." Said Ellie quietly, almost pleadingly.

"I know, baby girl, I know." Joel whispered, hugging Ellie tightly as he did so.

Ellie chuckled. "You can't really call me that anymore." She reminded him.

Joel stepped back smiling at Ellie. It was true, she had grown up into a strong, resilient young woman; independent and headstrong. In a way, everything that he had hoped Sarah would be. She had her flaws of course, her recklessness for one, but for the most part she was something to be proud of. Their silence was interrupted by a loud growl from Joel's stomach.

"I got eats if you like." Said Ellie, reaching into her pack and pulling out a jar of meal and the beef jerky.

"I could use a good meal." Joel admitted with a grin, and Ellie returned it.

So they ate together, neither speaking about their current situation. However, unspoken thoughts were racing through each other's mind. Ellie was trying to figure out why her father would suddenly take interest in her after all of these years. Joel was more focused on trying to figure out how they were going to get by the soldiers outside.

It was definitely a puzzle.

* * *

Ellie and Joel spent the rest of the day holed up in the cabin. Eventually, the sunlight dwindled as it set in the distance. Night fell on them, and Joel, gathering some firewood from a storage area behind the cabin, started a fire allowing them some light. Ellie could see a light form a fire in the woods just outside the clearing and she assumed it was the soldiers. As the night drew on, Ellie let out a loud yawn.

"I guess we should try and get some shut eye." She suggested.

"You go ahead, there's a bed in the room there. I'll sleep out here." Said Joel ,gesturing toward the bedroom.

"Are you sure?"

"Go ahead, Ellie."

"Alright, goodnight." She planted a small kiss on his forehead and headed through the door, closing it behind her.

Joel went back to poking at the burning embers of the reaming firewood with the iron poker and trying desperately to form some sort of plan of action.

"What will you do tomorrow?" he asked himself, "tomorrow….tomorrow the enemy will be well entrenched in the woods with twice the manpower and three times the fire power of you and her. What will you do?"

Several plans came to him, but none of them he accepted as logical or realistic. One included him secretly lighting fire to the forest that night and he and Ellie escaping in the chaos, but he realized he had no accelerants to assist in the venture so that plant was scrapped. The only realistic option seemed to be surrender.

"Like hell." He thought angrily, stabbing at the fire with particular aggressiveness, causing sparks to fly everywhere.

Joel's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the cabin door. The Texan stood up and drew his gun before approaching the door.

"Who is it?" he demanded sharply.

"Sergeant Ira, may I come in?" Ira's voice announced from the other side.

"Just you?" Joel called back.

"Just me."

Joel hesitated for a minute. "Are you armed?"

There were some clunking sounds, following by a few clicks and metallic noises, such as that of guns hitting the ground. "No sir." Came the answer.

Joel opened the door slowly and allowed Ira inside. He was indeed, to his word, unarmed, and was now no longer wearing his helmet, revealing a crop of buzz cut blonde hair and a prominent pair of greenish blue eyes. He was a bulky man, like Joel, but obviously far younger. Joel estimated in his early to mid thirties.

"What do you want?" Joel muttered, clearly displeased by the sergeant's company.

"I came by to see what you had to say on the subject of out terms."

"Fuck yourself."

Ira raised an eyebrow. "That's a rather uncivil response, sir. I've been most polite toward _you_."

"She's not going anywhere with y'all." Joel said sternly.

The latter let out a sigh and looked down at the wooden floor of the cabin for a few seconds. He looked back up at Joel with a face that, strangely, held no anger or resentment, only pity.

"I understand she's important to you, Joel, but I have my orders." He said quietly.

"Call me by my first name again and see what happens." Joel growled menacingly.

Ira ignored the threat. "Listen, I have to take her back to Cheyenne with us, one way or another. We have a helicopter on standby to extract us. We will be summoning it tomorrow morning. Ellie is boarding with us on that chopper. If you try to stop us, it could get…unpleasant." He warned Joel bluntly.

"You jarhead piece of shit, how dare you come in here tossin' your threats around! I ain't scared of you!" Joel hissed angrily, moving so his face was inches from Ira's.

Ira showed little, if any, reaction to Joel's rage. He didn't even blink, but stared back into Joel's eyes coolly. "Man's got balls, I'll give him that." Joel noted mentally as he continued to stare the sergeant down.

Ira broke the stalemate at last and moved around Joel heading back toward the door. "You have until tomorrow morning, sir." He called back, "I suggest you weigh you options carefully."

Then, as sudden as he had appeared, Ira was gone once more. Joel stared at the door for a minute or so, and then let out a frustrated sigh before plopping down one of the chairs in front of the fireplace. He then went back to stabbing at the coals while trying even more urgently than before to figure out a way out of this mess.

Unbeknownst to him, Ellie, hiding behind the bedroom door which she had had open a crack and thus had overheard the entire argument, shut the door quietly and fell back on her bed with a sigh of her own.

"Damn it dad, who would have thought you could cause so much trouble." She thought bitterly.

Ellie had little love for her biological father. He had little for her or her mother after all. What did she owe him? Most everything in her life she owed to her mother, Marlene, or Joel. They had been there for her. They had been with her when she was sick, protected her, taught her to swim, and many invaluable things that had shaped her into the woman she was today. Her father had given her nothing.

"You know what you have to do." A voice in her head chastised her for her stalling.

"I know." Ellie thought back sadly.

"But I'm not going to like it."

* * *

_What will be Ellie's decision? It's definitely a tough one. Meantime, hope you have all been enjoying. The amount of followings the story has garnered seems to indicate I'm doing a decent job. If you have an opinion or criticism you feel like sharing, feel free to drop it in a review. Cheers. _


	9. Little Caesar

Chapter 9

Little Caesar

Ellie waited until Joel had gone to sleep a few hours later. Once she could hear his droning snores from the living room, she slipped silently out of bed and out the cabin door. The young woman made her way toward the glowing light of the soldier's camp site, her had clutched around Joel's revolver in her pocket as a precaution. She had just reached the edge of the clearing and was about to start pushing her way through the trees toward the light, when a voice sounded behind her.

"I think we'd all be a lot more comfortable if you eased up on that piece." Said Sergeant Ira.

Ellie jumped slightly and turned around to see the sergeant. He was holding a M4, but was not pointing it at her.

"You scared the shit out of me." Ellie admitted, pouting a little.

Ira actually chuckled a little bit, which surprised Ellie. This man was unlike any solider she had ever met. He was fairly friendly, didn't get course or rough with you, and even had a sense of humor.

"So, what can I do for you Miss Beckett?" Ira inquired, gesturing for her to follow him.

She did so as she talked. "What does he want with me?" she asked.

"That's not something I'm told, Miss Beckett, but I'd assume he wants to ensure you're alright. You are his daughter after all." The pair made their way to the camp site which was empty to Ellie's surprise.

"Where's the rest of your squad?" she asked in surprise.

"Let's stay on topic shall we?" Ira insisted, taking a seat on the ground near the fire and Ellie did the same.

"Fair enough, I have a few questions."

The sergeant did not reply right away. He seemed to study Ellie for a few seconds, sizing her up.

"You're a lot like him you. Headstrong, independent." He observed.

"In case you haven't noticed, I don't give two shits about him." Ellie growled angrily.

Ira held up his hands and nodded. "Alright, sensitive subject, I apologize."

Ellie actually laughed, causing the latter to smile slightly. "What?" he asked.

"You're like no soldier I've ever met, they're usually so serious." Ellie observed.

"I learned quickly that being too serious in this type of work can mess with you." Ira admitted, but his tone and face quickly turned serious, "but I do believe in following orders, and mine are to bring you to Cheyenne."

"And what if I don't want to go?" Said Ellie quietly.

"You seem like an intelligent girl. You know how that's going to end."

There was an uncomfortable silence. Ellie refused to make eye contact with Ira for several minutes. When she did look up into them she was startled by what she saw. First and foremost she noted the way the fire reflected n his green eyes was rather handsome. However, she shook that thought from her head and she noted the look of pity he was giving her.

"Look, I know you care for him. If we fight, I will be forced to kill him. How would you like that on your conscience?" he told her quietly.

Ellie thought about his words. They were true in a way. If Joel and she fought back, they would spare her; they had to, but Joel would be shown no such courtesy.

"Alright." She agreed finally, "I'll go with you, but under one condition."

"I'm listening."

"You said you have a chopper right?"

Ira nodded.

"Well, I'll go with you if you give Joel a ride to Jackson. It's only a few miles from here."

The sergeant let out a frustrated sigh. "We are very tight for fuel, Miss Beckett."

Ellie stood up and started walking back toward the cabin.

"Those are my terms, take 'em or leave 'em." She replied bluntly.

"And if I don't?" asked Ira, standing up and turning to look at her.

"Then you won't be taking me tomorrow, and if you try and Joel is killed in the process, I'll put one in my own head before I go with you." Ellie's words were dangerous, and what frightened Ira most was that she sounded completely serious. "And you'll have to explain that to my father when you get back."

She had him there. The last thing Ira needed was to go back and tell his commander that his daughter was dead because he had refused to give some old man a lift to a nearby town. He was in hot water with General Beckett already.

"Alright, fine. The chopper will be here in the morning." Ira gave in.

Ellie only smiled. "Thank you." She said, before turning once more and striding off to the cabin.

Once she was out of sight, Ira sat back down and stared at the fire for five or six seconds before calling out: "you can come out now."

Corporal LePointe stepped from the bushes. A pistol was held in one hand.

"Was it really necessary to have a gun on her the whole time? If she had found out, negotiations might have gone downhill."

"A little security never hurts, sir." The corporal replied.

"You heard what she said then?"

"Yes sir."

"And?"

LePointe stayed silent, clearly choosing her words carefully. "You are our leader, sir but…you heard what Matlock said."

"I know."

"The choppers running on fumes, sir."

"I know, corporal." Ira repeated more firmly, causing the latter to fall silent.

"Well…" said Ira at last, getting to his feet, "go round up the boys and get on the horn to Matlock. We're extracting the target in the morning."

LePointe stood as he commanded started off into the forest. "What about the older guy?" she called after him.

"He'll be coming with." Was all Ira said, disappearing into the trees.

LePointe stared after him and shook her head.

"This is crazy." She thought, heading off nonetheless to carry out her orders….

….like a good soldier.

* * *

Joel was less than thrilled when he awoke at the crack of dawn that morning. Ellie, who had barely slept at all the previous night, was waiting for him, seated quietly in the chair next to his and staring at the either dead or dying embers of the fire. The elder was muttering in his sleep again.

"Another bad dream." Ellie had thought as she listened to his mumblings.

"Ellie….fireflies….find someone else….I swear…" Joel groaned as he shifted and breathed erratically.

At last, his eyes had flown open and he had given a short gasp before sitting up.

"Bad dream?" glancing over, he had noticed Ellie for the first time and looked away quickly, seemingly unwilling to meet her gaze.

"Yeah." Was all he said.

"Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news after a nightmare, but I have some news."

She had explained to him her meeting with Ira, and her agreement and terms to which Sergeant Ira had agreed. Joel's face grew more and more indignant as she went on.

"No! No way, you ain't goin' anywhere with them." Joel insisted angrily when she had finished.

"Joel…."

"I said, _no_."

"Will you stop being so damn stubborn and just _think _for one minute!" Ellie had finally shouted in frustration.

She rarely ever was so angry toward him, and it caused Joel to indeed shut up.

"Those men are taking me with them, whether you like it or not. They'll kill you if they have to, Joel. I can't have your body on my conscience; I wouldn't be able to live with it." She had continued in a quieter voice.

"And what then Ellie? They take you to Cheyenne and I never see you again? I'm not lettin' 'em." Joel stood up and took his pistol out.

"I'm not going with them to Cheyenne." Ellie stood as well and moved so she was in front of Joel.

"What?"

"They've agreed to take you to Jackson. I'll be getting off with you, whether _they_ like it or not." Ellie revealed with a grin, "I said I'd go with them, I didn't say to Cheyenne."

Joel stared at Ellie for several minutes, and a grin broke out over his face.

"Ever clever." He said.

And so, they waited, sitting back down once more in silence, neither saying much to the other. Joel was busy trying to decide what they would tell Tommy once they reached Jackson. After all, the soldiers wouldn't just leave Ellie alone once she had escaped into the town, they would surely pursue her and try to take her.

"A squad of five versus a whole town, I'd like to see 'em try." Joel thought with a triumphant grin.

"There will still be casualties though. How many are you willing to sacrifice, Joel? How long do you think you can protect her?" Tess's voice seemed to come from nowhere and yet everywhere.

Joel shook his head. "Shut up." He muttered.

"Huh?" Ellie asked, looking at him in puzzlement.

"Not you…nothing…never mind." The latter replied nervously.

Ellie continued to give him suspicious looks, but she dropped the subject.

The sun had barely risen above the tree line when there came a knock at the cabin door, it was rapid and urgent compared to the previous ones they had heard. Joel answered it without even inquiring as to who it was. Ira stood on the front stoop, his gun in hand. He seemed nervous.

"I take it she has filled you in on our agreement." He said quickly.

Joel nodded, "she did."

"Great, Ellie, could you come outside please!" Ira shouted past Joel.

Ellie stood and moved so she was standing next to Joel. Ira reached over and grabbed her arm before pulling her outside and out onto the grass of the clearing. Joel reached for his gun.

"Hey!" he shouted.

"No time, sir, you're just gonna have to trust me." The sergeant called back as he led Ellie a few feet from the cabin entrance so they were almost in the middle of the clearing.

Two other soldiers waited at the spot, Corporal LePointe and another man with the stripes of a Private First Class.

"Alright, we've got the target. Davis, call him in!" Ira ordered the PFC who was holding a radio.

"Come in Avatar, this is Delta Three, Little Caesar has been secured, repeat, Little Caesar is secured. Proceed with evac, over." The radioman announced into his set.

"Rodger that Delta Three, Avatar is en route, pop smoke on your position, over." A voice crackled over the radio.

Ira nodded and pulled out a small metal canister, which he pulled a pin out of and tossed it on the grass nearby. There was a small explosion near the top and a cloud of green smoke began to spray out and billow up into the atmosphere.

"Rodger that Avatar, smoke's deployed, over."

"Copy, ETA ten minutes. Try to be alive when I get there, over."

"Rodger that."

"Alright, defensive square, protect Little Caesar." Ira ordered his troops.

The three soldiers took up positions around Ellie, each facing a different position with their guns at the ready.

"Where are Baxter and Wade?" Ira inquired once they were set.

"They are still trying to delay the infected, sir." LePointe replied, her eyes still fixed on her sector.

"Shit, tell them to fall back."

"I did, sir. I have no idea where they're at."

"Somebody wanna tell me what the hell is goin' on!" Joel interrupted, stepping in front of Ira and glaring at him.

"We ran into some problems with the infected last night. It seems that problem has spilled over to this morning, so either help us protect her or stay out of the way." Ira shot back, clearly not in the mood for argument.

"I don't need protecting; I can take care of myself." Ellie insisted, trying to step forward, but LePointe moved to block her path.

"No, you stay here, we can't risk it." The woman said bluntly.

The corporal and Ellie engaged in a stare down that lasted until Ellie looked over at Joel. He stared back at her for a few minute before looking over at Ira. He then glanced back at Ellie and let out a sigh.

"Do what they say." Joel conceded.

Joel then took up a position between LePointe and Ira, pulling out his pistol. For what felt like eternity the group stayed in this position. Ellie glanced all around, staring into the woods around them, searching for some sign of life, infected or otherwise. A loud series of shrieks suddenly sounded from off to their right.

"Contact, multiple tangos!" Davis shouted, opening fire on several runners that had burst from the woods.

The shots struck them and they fell, but it soon became apparent that they weren't alone. More infected a mixture of runners and even some clickers was pouring out of the woods and heading for the group. Joel shifted position and began to fire on the group with Davis. They hit maybe two or three, but another five drew closer by a minute.

"SHIFT!" Ira shouted, and LePointe moved so she too was now firing on the advancing monsters.

"Contact Right!"

More infected started entering the clearing, and Ira started spraying fire on them. The four Runners, led by a Clicker, charged the sergeant. His deadly accurate fire cut down three of them. The Clicker managed to reach Ira and it leapt at him. Ira managed to hold it hideous face at bay by pressing his rifle against its neck.

"Get down!" Ellie shouted.

Ira shifted left as the young woman pulled out Joel's revolver and fired. The shot struck the Clicker in the head, killing it instantly. She then fired two shots at the remaining Runner. Both struck it in the torso and the infected fell face forward in the grass with a groan. LePointe, Davis, and Joel turned their attention to Ira after finishing off their attackers, but found that he had no need of it. Ira was staring wide eyed at a grim looking Ellie who was still holding the smoking revolver.

"Ok…" Ira said at last with a nod of respect at his savoir.

The sounds of gunshots from the woods drew the group's attention. Another soldier was rushing toward them, occasionally firing rounds off behind him as he did so.

"Wade! Where's Baxter?" Ira greeted his comrade.

"I don't know, they came from everywhere, we got separated." The newly arrived private explained, gasping for breath, "we got a gibber problem, there's a…"

He never got to finish. A loud, deep roar from the woods cut him off. It was a sound that Ellie and Joel were all too familiar with.

"Oh shit." Ellie muttered.

"What is it?" Ira demanded, turning to look back at the trees.

Lumbering through them came a massive heap of deformed and mutated flesh filled with fissured through which fungus grew rampant. The thing let out another massive roar as it entered the clearing.

"Bloater!" Ellie shouted as the lumbering creature lurched toward the six of them.

The four soldiers immediately moved in front of Ellie and raised their rifles. Four M4 rifles began to empty their clips onto the Bloater, which roared and writhed as the bullets struck its armor hard shell of fungus that covered its gigantic body. The thing gave a shriek and charged the group.

"Scatter!" the four soldiers leapt to the side as the Bloater charged past.

Joel grabbed Ellie and just barely managed to push Ellie out of the way before the thing slammed into him. Joel flew like a rag doll and landed with a grunt a few feet away. Pain screamed through is back like a bat out of hell and he shouted loudly and arched his back in sheer pain. With its path clear, the Bloater advanced in Ellie. She fired off her remaining four shot, but none of them stopped it. The Bloater neared her, causing Ellie to try and step back and ultimately stumbled before falling on her back onto the unforgiving grass below. Her attacker lumbered closer and closer, staring down at its quarry with its faceless deformed mass that was once a human head.

Suddenly, Ira stepped between the monster and Ellie and opened fire with his M4. The bullet hailed down on where the thing's face might have been. The sudden attack caused the Bloater to stumble backward and it seemed momentarily stunned. Ira continued to fire until his clip was empty. With the bullet storm having ceased, the Bloater regaining its bearings and advanced on the pair. Ira pulled out his pistol from its holster and aimed it at the monster, ready to fight to the death.

A sudden loud noise filled the air, and it was soon followed by what seemed to Ellie to be a loud, extremely long burp.

"BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!" the Bloater gave a scream as a helicopter flew over head, unloading round from a mini-gun into the things back.

The copter flew overhead, and Ellie watched as it made a steep u turn before flying back at the Bloater and firing another burst of rounds at it. The bullets peppered the giant infected and it finally gave gurgled groan before falling to its knees and collapsing on the ground.

The chopper immediately went into hover mode and landed on the soft grass.

"Let's go, everyone on board now!" Ira shouted.

LePointe reached the door of the helicopter first and slid it open. The group piled inside, Ira covering them until everybody was safely onboard before boarding himself.

"What about Baxter?" asked Private Wade with concern.

"He's probably dead. We can't wait for him. There are more of them coming."

Ira was right of course. Ellie could hear the screams and shrieks of the infected; the entire forest seemed to be alive with them.

"Get us in the air now, Matlock!"

"Yes sir!" the pilot shouted back and the helicopter took off from the ground with such speed that Ellie was crushed down into her seat by the force of it.

It shot straight up and hovered briefly. As it did so, Davis happened to glance out the door and saw a figure running from the woods firing a gun off.

"Hey, look, its Baxter!" he pointed toward the fleeing soldier below them who was waving up at the helicopter and crying out desperately, though Ellie couldn't hear what he was saying over the whirr of the blades.

"We gotta help him!" Wade insisted, standing and look out at his comrade below.

"NO! We can't risk, Little Caesar is on board." Ira reminded them.

"Sarge, we can't just leave him there." No sooner had Wade spoken these words then several infected burst from the woods and charged at Baxter. He fired until his clip was empty and they overwhelmed him.

Ellie watched the pack closed in around the doomed Private and began to tear him apart.

"Jesus." She muttered.

"Get us out of here, now! Set a course for Jackson." Ira ordered Matlock, who only nodded.

"Y…yes sir." He muttered.

The chopper flew off northward, leaving behind the cabin and the grim scene before it. They flew on in silence; no one dared say a word. Finally, Wade slammed his fist into the metal wall of the copter.

"Goddamnit!" he cursed.

LePointe and Davis said nothing, but only stared at the ground, looks of mourning and sadness on their faces over their fallen comrade. Only Ira seemed to show no emotion. He stared blankly ahead at the passing treetops outside the chopper sliding door.

"Heartless bastard." Ellie thought angrily, noting the lack of remorse the sergeant seemed to be showing.

To her surprise, Ira looked over at her and their eyes met. Ellie saw a gratuitous amount of pain reflected in the man's eyes.

"It's not like he had a choice." She realized, "you are his first priority, and setting down the shopper would have been risky bordering on suicidal."

"Hey, you alright?" Joel asked suddenly, putting a hand on Ellie's shoulder and causing her to break eye contact with Ira to turn and look at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said quietly.

Joel nodded and looked back out of the door of the chopper, Ellie glanced back at Ira, but he was no longer looking at her. The young woman was surprised by the amount of pity she felt for the sergeant.

"It must be difficult." She thought, "Being the leader, having to make such tough decisions."

She glanced out the door along with Joel and watched the mountains in the distance slowly skimming by. She had to think now, think on how she was going to escape as soon as they reached Jackson. By the time they were nearly there, she felt she had a full-proof plan of action. The chopper gave a sudden lurch and came to a hovering halt.

"We're there, sir." Matlock announced, and Ellie, Joel, and Ira all stood before moving toward the chopper door to gaze out over Jackson.

"My god!" Ira whispered.

"Holy shit!" said Joel.

"What the Hell happened." Muttered Ellie.

What had once been Jackson, a vibrant, thriving community full of color, laughter, cheer, and merriment, was not a massive wasteland of burned or burning buildings. There were no signs of life either. It was a though the town, their home for the last ten years and the first place Ellie had really felt safe in a long time, had been wiped clean off the face of the earth.

"It's gone." The young woman whispered, staring out over the destruction.

"It's all gone…."

* * *

_Poor Ellie and Joel, their luck never seems to get better. Meantime, I'm having a personal debate on whether I should have Ellie get romantically involved with Alex or Ira. I've created a poll to see what you readers think, so please take a moment to go to my profile and vote on the issue. Also, be sure to let me know how I'm doing on the action sequences and just in general of anything is off. Hope you're all enjoying thus far. I know I am enjoying writing it. Cheers. _


	10. Defensive protocol

Chapter 10

Defensive protocol.

_Two days earlier. _

John led Robert and Alex back to the city of Jackson. Though leaders were never really officially selected (Tommy felt that doing so would create tensions among team members) John was the de facto leader of the crew, he always had been. There were good reasons for this. Aside from perhaps Ellie, he was the most charismatic. Also, unlike Ellie, he was more experience and wiser in the ways of leading large groups. John had been a police officer all those years ago (he was in his mid-fifties after all) before the Cordyceps had broken out. His training as an officer had given him an edge and he had managed to survive the outbreak. Unfortunately, his skills had not been enough to save his wife and two children who had all perished on the way to the Denver QZ.

In the end, the young police officer had reached the QZ battered and emotionally destroyed only to find that it had been overrun and taken over by the infected. The bitter reality that the journey, the one that had cost him his wife and two beloved children, had been for nothing was too much for him. By all accounts, even John himself could remember little about the years after. He spent them wandering aimlessly around the western states. John had once told Ellie that he had memories of traveling to Spokane, Washington one year and then arriving in what remained of Las Vegas the next. Those years were all but lost to him now. All that he could solidly remember was stumbling into Jackson one day where Tommy took pity on him.

He owed them a lot, the people of Jackson, and Tommy and Maria particularly. They had helped him back to sanity, and he had done his best to repay them. As soon as the group arrived they found the town in chaos. The lack of electricity had not gone unnoticed, and the citizens had begun to panic. John dismounted and rushed down the road toward the garage, the last place he knew Tommy to be.

Alex and Robert dismounted and the former begun to follow, but stopped when he noted that Robert was not.

"Aren't you coming?" he inquired.

"No, it doesn't take three of us to tell Tommy about the dam. They're gonna need all the help they can to keep things in order." Was all Robert said before taking off in the opposite direction.

Alex watched him go with an odd look on his face. Deciding that there were better things to be concerned with at the moment, the young engineer turned and followed after John who had a good head start on him by now.

John reached the garage and found men running back and forth with rifles, pistols, and even assault rifles. Tommy stood in the center looking over a large drawing of Jackson that had been spread out on several large crates that had been pushed together.

"Right, were entering the defensive protocol until the dam can get up and running again. I want y'all to focus on protecting the crops and livestock, that's our most important resources." Tommy was speaking to several men gathered around him.

John made his way through to Tommy, who noticed him and looked before waving at him.

"John!" he said, as the elder approached him, "What happened at the dam? We've lost all power flow."

"They blew it up, the wall of the dam. It's gone Tommy." The latter explained quietly.

Tommy stared at John in shock for a bit before refocusing on the gathered men.

"You got your instructions, get to it." The crowd dispersed at his words, and once they had gone he turned to look back at John with a grave look.

"What do you mean they destroyed the dam wall?" he whispered, ensuring no one heard him.

"I mean they blew it the hell up, Tommy. It's gone." John hissed back.

"Jesus Christ."

"We have to evacuate."

"What?"

"Tom, think about it. We can't hold out here without that fence."

"We have defensive protocol." Tommy pointed out, but John shook his head.

"You, Joel, and I developed that for only short term defense as a contingency until the dam could be repaired. I've seen the dam, Tommy, we're _never _gonna be able to repair that inside the time span the protocol was set up for." He explained grimly.

"We can't go anywhere now; we received word from some scout parties I sent out earlier. They say we got a huge number of bandits convergin' a few miles outside of town. They called it the biggest group they ever saw." Tommy retorted.

John's face fell even further if that was possible. "Do you think they could have been tipped off?"

"I don't know, but no one but our own people would have known about the dam."

"Tom, our own people blew up the dam." John reminded him.

Tommy shook his head and moved past John, heading for the door of the garage. "We ain't got time for this right now, there's loads to do." He said dismissively.

"Tommy…" John began an objection, but the latter cut him off.

"Look, we got enough problems right now without stirrin' up distrust and suspicion among our own people." Tommy snapped, wheeling to face John again.

Said former officer went silent at Tommy's glare, but spoke softly once again after a few seconds.

"But there _are _people in this town who are trying to betray us, Tom. We have to do something about that."

Tommy let out a sigh and approached John before placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I trust you, John. Let's just try and get through tonight, save that problem for tomorrow." He said.

John felt like saying something, but the look of wariness and concern in Tommy's eyes convinced him to keep his mouth shut and he simply nodded. The leader of their community, the man who had helped them through thick and thin, smiled and patted John on the shoulder before heading back outside. He passed by a breathless and heaving Alex who had run all the way to the garage.

"Hey….what….what did I….miss?" Alex huffed, bending over and taking gulps of air as John approached him.

John smiled and slapped Alex on the back before lifting him up from his stooped position.

"C'mon kid…" said John as he gestured for Alex to follow him,

"…we got work to do."

* * *

Night fell on Jackson with little incident. The people of the town had spent the remainder of the day preparing for the long, tense night that now faced them. The residents that had lived near the formerly electrified perimeter had been evacuated deeper into the town to avoid any causalities in a cross fire that might or might not break out. All able bodied person who were able to wield a gun were placed on duty throughout the night, man or woman it didn't matter, though Tommy had insisted on not allowing anyone younger than eighteen to be on perimeter duty.

So it was that, as the last vestiges of the sun went down, John stood just outside the fence on the southwest side of the town. They had dug a sort of trench system around the fence for just such an emergency, and now the older gentleman along with two others, a man about twenty six and a woman even younger than that, sat in the trench watching the scattered trees just beyond.

Each trench area had three to four people guarding it. The weapons were disturbed as evenly as possible, but of course they had access to more types of weaponry than others. To that end, most groups had two riflemen a shot gunner and at least one person armed with an assault rifle (most being a mixture of old M16s and AK47s that had been scavenged from defeated bandits). The trenches themselves were not connected, but instead were dug individually at measured intervals between each other. The next trenches were about twenty feet to John's left or right. They had been Joel's idea, the trenches. He had based them off what he had seen at the many QZs he had been to before coming to Jackson with Ellie.

A sudden noise had all three of the ditch's occupants on their toes in an instant. It sounded like whispering coming from the trees ahead. Immediately, two rifles and an M16 were aimed at the spot as John called out: "who's there!?"

There was a brief silence.

"BAM, BAM, BRAP, BAM!" bullets whizzed forth and struck the dirt in front of the trench, causing the three occupants to duck down in an effort to avoid the shots.

"FUCK!" shouted John before holding up his M16 and blind firing.

The other two did the same, the woman actually going as far as to move near the top and glance over the edge of the trench to see if she could hit something. She fired and a scream of pain announced that she had hit her target. To John's surprise, as soon as that happened, the firing ceased as suddenly as it had started. The silence that followed hung over them like a shroud.

"What the hell is going on down there!?" a voice shouted from one of the nearby trenches.

"Keep your eyes open we just got fired on!" John shouted back.

However, the silence remained on John sector. Instead, the sounds of gunshots could be heard several feet down the line.

"What the hell?" muttered the man in John's trench, "what are they doing?"

"They're probing the lines." John replied in an equally puzzled tone.

"But why?"

John was still trying to decide that for himself when he heard shouts going up along the perimeter.

"Smoke, smoke, fire!"

The ex-officer spun and could see a great column of smoke rising out of the center of Jackson into the clear night sky.

"Shit! You two stay here." He told his two companions, taking the man's rifle and giving him the M16, "If any more of them try to come through, waste them."

The man nodded, and John took off out of the trench and through the nearby gate, heading back toward town. He had expected to be shot at during the move, but to his utter shock was not.

"What are they waiting for?" he thought.

People were running down the street in the opposite direction of the smoke, screaming in fear. The source of the smoke became apparent as John neared the center of town. At least five building had caught fire and were burning brightly. He stopped for a brief minute and gazed in shock and awe at the fire now consuming the structures. Where had it come from? How could it have started? Other people had not run away, but had stayed and were now pulling survivors out of the burning buildings. More men arrived from different directions to help with the injured.

Among them, John recognized Alex who was helping a limping young girl down the steps from a burning apartment building.

"Alex, what the hell happened?" John demanded as he approached the young engineer.

"I don't know." Alex admitted as he handed the girl off to two other people, who in turn helped her over to where medical personnel (or at least their version of it) were helping the injured.

"One moment I was just sitting in my trench, then next minute smoke was billowing and buildings were burning."

"JOHN!" the voice caused both men to turn.

Tommy was approaching along with several others.

"Did you come from the perimeter?" he inquired as he neared.

"Yeah, why?"

"Shit, practically everyone here has. The line could be breached in this condition." Tommy swore as a young man approached him.

"Sir, we have fires spreading in the downtown area!" the man announced.

"What?! Impossible! There's no way the fires could have spread unless…"

"Unless someone was staring them." John finished Tommy's sentence, and the latter turned to look at him.

"Alright." Tommy said quietly before turning to the young man once more.

"We're evacuating, tell the perimeter line to hold as long as it can while we get the women and children out."

"You got it, sir." The young messenger ran off once more and Tommy turned back to John.

"I have to find Andy and Maria." He said before running past John and down the street.

John watched him go before turning to Alex.

"We should help carry out some of the wounded." Alex suggested, but John shook his head.

"No, we need to get to downtown. We gotta stop whoever is setting these fires, or else we won't have a town to come back to."

"You think we're _coming_ back?" asked Alex incredulously.

John glared at the young engineer, causing him to regret his words.

"Are you coming with me or not?" he hissed before heading off down the street toward the new smoke columns that were springing up in the downtown area.

Alex watched him go, feeling torn. He respected John most of all, but there were those in need of assistance as well. After glancing between John's retreating back and the wounded and burned laying around the street being attended by others, he sighed in defeat and hurried after John.

After all, he was gonna need all the help he could get to stop the arsonist.

* * *

The man who John had handed him M16 to not a half-hour earlier lay in the trench as another round of shots was unloaded on his and his comrade's position. The assault had resumed shortly after John had departed, and worst of all it had left only two people holding their sector.

"I got to reload!" the woman shouted, and the man nodded, "I got you covered!" he assured her, peeking over the top of their fortification and firing off several rounds with his M16.

As she was loading bullets into her rifle, the woman happened ot look over the edge and notice several bandits had moved to a tree just a few feet from their line.

"There, to the left, behind that tree there." Were her last words before a bullet struck her in the head, killing her instantly.

"Shit!" the man hissed, as he slid back down into cover to reload. During that interval, one of the bandits pulled out an improvised grenade and tossed it into the trench. The small can laded in the mud with a 'clink'.

"Aww fu…." the man began, but the device went off, sending thousands of shrapnel pieces all over the space, killing him instantly.

With the trench now cleared, the bandits swarmed forward as were their comrades all over the weakened perimeter. Two of the bandits moved further forward to the fence and planted a charge on it before pulling back. The explosive went off in a fanfare of tearing metal, opening a massive hole in the formerly electrified fence. The bandits all gave a cheer before tens of others swarmed out of the woods and through the hole into the city of Jackson itself.

The perimeter was breached, defensive protocol had failed.

* * *

_Hell has come to Jackson, and its mad! So no one is confused, this chapter is set two days before the last chapter. Its so you know what happened to Jackson. Meantime, no votes on the poll as to Ellie's love interest yet :(. If you would please take the time to go ahead and vote, I'd much appreciate it. Hope you're enjoying the story and if not, don't hesitate to leave me a review as to why. Cheers. _


	11. The fall of Jackson

Chapter 11

The fall of Jackson

The downtown area of Jackson wasn't all that large. Really the town wasn't big enough to have an official 'down town', but since the area was the location of the food storage, armory, and main meeting hall it was considered downtown. Now, however, the spot was mostly empty as everyone within the area had fled. They had good reason. Half of the buildings were burning, and John brushed by the occasional fleeing family as he made his way toward what seemed to be the center of the firestorm. Here, there were four or five buildings that had fully caught fire, and the roar of the flames was almost deafening. John, shotgun at the ready, moved cautiously down the abandoned street until he reached the edge of one of the buildings. Alex, who had been right behind him, stayed behind the ex-policeman as he peeked around the corner.

"Oh shit, it's Gibbons." He muttered.

"What?" whispered Alex, moving to glance around the corner as well.

True enough, Gibbons, one of the mechanics who worked on cars at the garage, was wielding a homemade flamethrower (Joel had taken the design from the one he had found in Colorado and used it to create several more for arsenal) and setting fire to random houses.

"Oh hell, we gotta do something." Alex whispered upon analyzing the situation.

"Alright, here' what's going to happen." John explained quietly as he pulled Alex back so they were looking eye-to-eye, "I'm gonna distract him. You go around the other street to that house across from him and see if you can get a bead on the cocksucker. One of us will hit him. I'll wait for your mark."

Alex nodded before taking off down the street. John watched him go.

"Let's hope he can do it." He thought.

He had killed before of course, Alex. It was not something new to the engineer. Someone who could say that they had never killed anyone in this day and age was a rarity. Still, right now John needed Alex to be ready; any amount of hesitation could cost them dearly. John waited for about five minute before leaning close to the edge of the house.

"GIBBONS!" he shouted.

The man with the flamethrower stopped setting fire to one of the domiciles and turned toward the direction the shout had come from.

"That you John?!" Gibbons shouted back.

"Gibbons, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Just setting a few fires to keep the good folk of Jackson warm for the winter!"

"Why'd you do it?"

"I don't expect you to understand that." Gibbons shouted as he moved a bit closer to the house where it seemed John's voice was coming from, "you seen Ellie anywhere?"

"What's that you?"

"I got a message for her!"

"HOW'S THIS FOR A MESSAGE!" Alex shouted suddenly, bursting for his cover and firing several shots at Gibbons.

The traitor ducked slightly as the bullets whizzed by. One of them managed to slam into his arm and he gave a cry of pain. It lasted only a few seconds however, as Gibbons recovered and let loose a wall of flame toward the corner of the house that Alex now crouched behind. But the job was done, and seeing his target distracted, John came out of cover and let fly a blast of buckshot that tore a huge chunk out of Gibbon's side. The man fell to the ground screaming in pain. Alex was the first to arrive at the spot, his pistol aimed at the screaming Gibbons as the engineer kicked the flamethrower away from him.

"How could he?" Gibbons moaned painfully when John pushed Alex aside and aimed his shotgun down at the traitor's head.

"BLAM!" Gibbons was no more.

"Jesus Christ, John!" Alex exclaimed, stepping back from the headless body that was now oozing from the massive hole at the top of its neck.

"Traitorous son-of-a-bitch." John muttered angrily.

For a moment there was only a tense silence as Alex stared at the body of Gibbons, the sounds of burning wood cracking and the smell of smoke permeating the air. It was in that moment that Alex realized it: home was gone. Jackson, the town he had called home for three years would soon be no more. Just a pile of ash built on dead dreams and happiness.

"_John! John you there!?" _The voice sounded over the radio on John's belt, and reached for the device.

"I'm here Tommy, go ahead." John spoke into the radio.

"_I got Andy, but the bandits have breached the perimeter! We need help! Meet us at the garage if you can!" _

"Got it, we'll be right there." John confirmed before clipping the radio back to his belt and glancing over at Alex.

"C'mon, we gotta move." And with that he was off again.

Alex hesitated, looking back at Gibbon's body one last time before following after, leaving the place that had given so much hope to so many to be consumed by the flames.

* * *

_Thirty minutes earlier_

Tommy made his way through the thick smoke that blanketed the streets from the fire. It was so thick at times, that Tommy found himself coughing and wheezing while trying to see through teary eyes due to the smoke.

"There's no way all of this is from the downtown area." He thought, and his worst fears were confirmed when he reached a small hill that overlooked the main quarter of the residence area. Several of the houses were already on fire, and more seemed to be catching. The sounds of screaming and gunshots could also be heard, and a frantic Tommy charged down the hill toward his house.

"Oh God, Andy, Maria! No!" he thought desperately when he reached his own home to find it ablaze.

Ignoring the intense hear, Tommy climbed the steps of the patio and kicked down the front door. He was greeted by the sight of the living room burning and thick smoke hanging in the air. Ducking low to avoid the smoke screen, Tommy moved slowly down the hall, doing his bed to keep his distance from the burning walls.

"ANDY! MARIA!" Tommy screamed as loud as he could into the inferno.

"DADDY!" Andy's scream came from one of the bedrooms down the hall, and Tommy made his way there.

He attempted to open the door but it was jammed. "Andy! Can you hear me?" Tommy shouted.

"Yes, help me daddy! The fire's getting bigger!" the young boy pleaded back.

His father began to throw his shoulder against the door with all his might. Suddenly, with a loud cracking sound, the door fell forward and collapsed on the ground. The reason for its refusal to open was made clear immediately, a large amount of ceiling beams had fallen and blocked the door way.

"DADDY HELP!" Andy shrieked.

The boy was trapped under a beam, and the fire was slowly spreading across the wooden floor toward him. Tommy's fatherly instinct kicked into high gear and, ignoring the pain from the burns given by the coals on the wood, Tommy grabbed the beams blocking the door and lifted them up so that he had enough room to squeeze through. Once inside, Tommy ran over and lifted the wooden beam off of Andy. Aside from a few cuts and bruises the boy looked none the worse for wear. Andy struggled to his feet and his father pulled him into a tight hug.

"Thank God you're alright." He whispered with relief but a thought suddenly struck him, "where's mommy?" he asked.

"They took her." Said Andy.

"Who? Bandits?"

"No, Mr. Morgan and Mr. Dorrity came to the door. They told mommy to tell them where Ellie is, but she wouldn't. Mr. Morgan hit mommy and then they both took her away and then they set the house on fire!" Andy said in a voice so fast and frightened that Tommy could barely follow it.

"Morgan and Dorrity?" whispered Tommy. The two men worked as plumbers, fixing the system that fed water to the town reservoir.

The conversation was interrupted by the sounds of another section of the ceiling collapsing, and Tommy noted that the fire in the room was still spreading.

"C'mon, son, we have to get out of here!" said Tommy before sweeping his son up in his arms. He saw a large hole in the bedroom hall that led out into the kitchen, and he passed through it rather than risk the hallway again.

Once in the kitchen, pair moved toward the back door and burst out into the night air. Tommy didn't stop running until they were a good twenty feet from the house. He then set Andy down with a groan of pain, as the burns on his hands were staring to sting. Tommy glanced back at his burning home and felt his stomach turn to stone.

"Our home." He thought grimly, "they couldn't even let us have that."

"I got one here!" the voice caused Tommy to turn around and he saw a bandit holding a rifle aimed at him and his son. "Hands in the air!" the man ordered them gruffly.

"Okay, take it easy." Said Tommy calmly, raising his hands in the air, all while walking slowly toward the bandit.

"Hey, stay back." The man warned Tommy, who continued to move closer.

"We don't want any trouble." Tommy continued in his calm tone.

"I said stay….!"

In one swift motion, Tommy grabbed the barrel of the rifle and tugged hard. The man stumbled forward and into Tommy's waiting grip, who grabbed him by the neck and twisted it hard. A sickening snap followed and the man crumpled to the ground. Tommy looked over at his son who stood wide eyed. Immediately, twinge of guilt filled the older man's stomach.

"He shouldn't have had to see that." He could hear Maria's voice chastising him already.

Ignoring it for the time being, Tommy moved over to his son and grabbed his hand before leading him off in the direction of the garage. As he did so, he reached for the radio on his belt and called into it: "John! John you there!?"

There was several seconds of silence, followed by John's voice.

"_I'm hear Tommy, go ahead."_

Tommy breathed a sigh of relief. "I've got Andy, but the bandits have breached the perimeter! We need help! Meet us at the garage if you can!" he continued urgently.

"_Got it, we'll be right there_!_" _John quipped back.

"Alex must be with him still." Tommy thought as he placed the radio back on his belt and grasped his son's hand tighter.

"We gotta move quick, son. You ready?" he asked.

Andy, still looking shocked and wide eyed, only nodded. Tommy felt like he should have said something to the boy, something to tell him that it was all going to be alright. But somehow he felt that saying such a thing would have been a lie. After what the boy had seen, not just Tommy's kill, but also the house setting fire, his mother being kidnapped. No, nothing was ever going to be 'alright' again.

Tommy let out a sigh as he led his young son through the practically empty streets of Jackson, but said nothing. They reached the garage with relatively little incident (mostly due to Tommy's decision to cut through backyards and smaller streets, to avoid the marauding groups of bandits. The pair was right across the street from the garage and was about to cross when Tommy yanked his son back and held him against the wall. The elder then reached behind his back and pulled out a 9mm. A group of at least six bandits ran by, armed with an assortment of weaponry. Once they had passed, Tommy grabbed Andy's hand once more and the two dashed across the road way and through the massive gaping door of the garage.

Upon entry, they quickly realized that they were not alone. Tommy could hear low voices and he pulled Andy with him behind a stack of boxes. Placing himself protectively over his son, Tommy glanced over the top of the cover, gun at the ready.

"Let me go you bastards!" the familiar shout caused Tommy's heart to skip a beat.

He glanced further over the top and saw Morgan and Dorrity talking to a group of five bandits who had gathered around them as they pushed a kicking Maria into one of the trucks that the mechanics had been working on over the past few days.

"You know our arrangement. If the girl returns, you take her to us straight away." Morgan was reminding one of the bandits who rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You help us destroy this fucking place and we bring you the girl _alive_. We got it."

Tommy watched as the men finished loading Maria into the truck and grimaced. He was out numbered severely, but he couldn't just let them take her.

"Keep your head down, son." He whispered to Andy before pulling back the hammer on his pistol.

"On the count of three." He told himself, "one…two…"

'CLICK'

The sounds of a hammer being cocked behind him caused Tommy to freeze up.

"Shit." The Texan muttered.

"Drop the piece, now!" hissed a voice from behind him where the cold barrel of a gun was pressed against the back of Tommy's head.

Tommy did as ordered, and the handgun clattered to the ground. A hand then grabbed his collar and yanked him roughly to his feet.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here: the man in charge of the soon to be 'biggest pile of ashes in Wyoming'." Morgan laughed as The bandit led both Tommy and Andy around the crates, "and his little brat."

"Let my wife go you sons a bitches." Tommy hissed as he noted the now unconscious Maria (Dorrity having struck her a few seconds ago) laying in the back of the white pick-up the kidnappers had selected.

"And who's gonna make us, you?" said Dorrity with a laugh, "but I tell you what. We'd be willing to make a trade."

"You bring us Ellie, and we'll let you have your darling wife and son back." Tommy barely had time to fully grasp what Morgan had meant before he had moved forward and grabbed Andy around the waist.

The boy screamed and kicked as the traitor pulled him with both he and Dorrity into the truck. Tommy's attempt to stop them was met with a rifle but to the knee by the bandits, causing him to collapse to the ground with a groan of pain. The father could only watch in anguish as he son was pinned down while Dorrity started the car.

"DAAAAAADDY!" Andy screamed as the truck started and sped out of the garage leaving Tommy with tears streaming down his face.

"ANDY, NO!" he screamed, then slumped forward onto his knees sobbing.

The leader of the bandits stepped forward and drew a revolver. "You know something, Tommy? They wanted us to keep you alive." The man growled as he grabbed Tommy by the hair and yanked his head back so his revolver was pointed down on the Jacksonian's forehead.

"But you killed quite a few of my friends, so I'd say I ain't so inclined to carry that threw."

Tommy closed his eyes, waiting for the end to come. He had failed. He had failed the people of Jackson, he had failed his family, and, most of all, he had failed himself.

"Guess you were right Joel." he thought sadly.

"CRACK" went a pistol.

* * *

_What an intense chapter. Sorry for the long delay in updating, I had a rather hectic week with work and classes and all. Meantime, the poll for Ellie's love interest stands at 50% for Ira and 50% for Alex. Seems we're in a gridlock so if you haven't voted, I urge you to do so. Anything else you'd like to let me know, please feel free to do so in a review. Hope you are enjoying the story and the cliff hanger. Cheers. _


	12. Ashes of dreams

Chapter 12

Ashes of a dream

Both Ellie and Joel continued to stare out over the remains of Jackson in utter silence. For Ellie, she could still not grasp that the town that had been so vibrant and full of hope when she had left, was now this smoldering pile of wreckage before them.

"My God, what happened here?" LePointe whispered.

"That doesn't matter. Matlock, get us out of here!" Ira shouted toward the cockpit, causing Ellie to wheel on him with a furious look.

"What!? We can't just leave, what if there are survivors that need our help?!" she demanded incredulously.

"That's not my mission." The sergeant replied coolly.

"You heartless bastard!" Ellie hissed.

"Look, this is not my job alright! We took the old man here like we said we would; now you're coming to Cheyenne with us." Ira snapped, moving so he and Ellie were face-to-face, each staring into the others eyes, and waiting for one or the other to back down.

As he looked deep into the brown irises of the young woman before him, Ira noted a deep intensity within them. She was a strong willed individual that was for sure. He had rarely seen such depth of character in a person before. Under other circumstances, Ira would have appreciated someone of such will, strength, and character on his squad, but she wasn't a recruit, she was a package, and it had to be delivered. So, deciding that waiting for Ellie to buckle would take longer than their fuel reserves had, Ira broke the stalemate and looked toward the cockpit once more.

"Set us down so Joel can get off." He ordered Matlock.

The pilot did as he was told and the helicopter descended toward a large open area between two half-burnt, yet still standing, buildings. As it did so, Ellie continued to stare at Ira with a mixture of anger and contempt. The sergeant noticed this but chose to ignore it. Why should he care what she thought, she was just cargo after all.

"How can you do this?" Ellie whispered so that only Ira heard her over the whirr of the helicopter blades.

"I have my orders, there's no choice." The soldier replied solemnly.

"There's always a choice."

They were feet from the ground now, and Ellie knew it. She shot a glance at Joel who caught it and nodded back. He then moved so that he was standing at the door to the chopper. To the others it looked like he was doing nothing more than preparing to disembark. Ellie continued to watch the chopper descend until she judged they were about ten feet off the ground.

"Hya!" she shouted, grabbing a hold of Davis's M16 and tugging it out of his grasp.

The soldier was too shocked to respond as Ellie backed up, waving the assault rifle at the other four soldiers.

"Back off!" she hissed.

Ira, LePointe, Davis, and Wade all stepped back as best they could in the confines of the helicopter.

"Ellie, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Ira demanded angrily after several long seconds.

"What I have to. You didn't really think I'd go see that cocksucker did you?" Ellie shot back, her own anger matching the sergeant's.

"How do you think this is going to end?"

Ellie stared at the sergeant a minute and smiled slightly. "Guess we'll find out."

Before Ira could reply, Ellie had backed toward the helicopter door and, after waving the M16 around one more time, she stepped out. The young woman fell the few remaining feet to the groan and landed with a grunt. Joel had already done so after she had grabbed the gun. At first she lay there staring up at the sky and the helicopter hovering above them. However, when she realized the chopper was still descending, she quickly stood up and grabbed the M16 she had taken before aiming up at the metal bottom of the helicopter and opening fire.

Ellie had no intention of hitting anyone, and for the most part that was fulfilled. The bullets bounced harmlessly off of the metal of the chopper. However, it still had the intended effect of causing the chopper to swerve and begin ascending once more. Smiling at how well her plan was working, Ellie turned and saw Joel still lying on the ground, groaning in pain. She immediately rushed over to him.

"Joel, Joel! Are you alright? Anything broken?" she asked concernedly as she attempted to help the Texan to his feet.

"No…no it's just….my back." Joel groaned through his teeth.

"C'mon old man, we aren't out of this yet." Ellie muttered as she slung Joel's arm over her shoulder and pulled him up.

The pair made their way slowly toward one of the brunt out buildings that stood (barely) nearby, Ellie intent on at least getting them out of sight from above.

"What the hell were you thinkin'" Joel muttered suddenly, causing Ellie to actually laugh.

"No, 'hey thanks for rescuing our butts, Ellie' or 'great plan Ellie; I sure wasn't offering one anyway'?" she pointed out.

"You could've gotten us killed."

"If I had a nickel for every time you said that, I could build an electrified mansion with an outdoor swimming pool and retire from all this shit."

"That ain't the point."

This was an argument that they had had many times before, and it was one neither of them ever really won, so Ellie chose not to respond, but instead looked around the ruins of the home they now hid in. Joel leaned against the wall still catching his breath and struggling to suppress the pain in his back, God it was unbearable. Ellie's foot crunched down on something and she reached down and brushed away the ash that covered the spot revealing a framed photograph that she had cracked. The young redhead reached down and picked up the photo which, after rubbing a bit more of the ash off, she recognized. It showed a mother and father and their two children standing and smiling outside of a house. It was hard to believe that the house on the photo was now the one she and Joel stood in, but Ellie knew it was because she had taken the photo.

"This was the Ross's house." She observed, bringing the photo over to show Joel.

"What's left of it anyway." Joel muttered, not even bothering to look at the photo.

Ellie did however. As she stared at the smiling face of the man that she had helped kill only two days earlier, his wife and children around him, a deep sense of guilt filled her. She dropped the photo and tried to shake it off, but it never fully left her. None of it ever did; the guilt. That was the price of surviving. Whatever Joel's trick to dealing with it was, he had never shared it. So Ellie had learned to live with it. Not just the guilt, but the memories, the nightmares. It was all she could do. She rarely dreamed of David anymore. His laughter and cruel voice haunted her dreams less and less as time went on, but she still remembered. She would never forget and she knew it. She would just have to live with it that was a part of surviving.

"So what do we do now?" she spoke up after a considerable length of silence.

"I don't know." Joel admitted, finally able to get to his feet.

"Well we can't just sit here, they're gonna look for us."

"I know."

"Damn it! Am I the only one capable of thinking up plans here!?" Ellie's frustration finally broke.

"Hey, I'm not the one whose dad sent the military after us." Joel retorted.

"I didn't ask for this shit! I could give less than two shits about what that son-of-a-bitch wants with me. I'm not going to Cheyenne with them! I'll die first!"

Joel stared at Ellie for a few minutes, perhaps a bit shocked by the severity of her tone. The young lady let out a sigh and looked down at the ground.

"Sorry, I just….sorry." she apologized quietly.

"Let's just get out of here." Joel replied curtly, leading the way toward where the back door of the house used to be (and in theory allow them a way out), "if there is some clue as to where they've gone, I'd bet it's in the garage. Let's get movin'."

Ellie watched him go but did not follow for a minute or so. She looked back down at the cracked photo instead, taking that brief moment to push the guilt back down deep inside of her to keep the rest of her turmoil company. It was what she had been doing since she was fourteen.

Afterward, she followed after Joel, leaving behind a photo of a once happy family, now covered in ash.

That dream was gone.

* * *

"Goddamn it set us down!" Ira shouted to Matlock after the bullets had stopped.

"What?!" Matlock had exclaimed in shock.

"Set us down and switch her off, we have to get after them!"

"I can't do that!"

"That's an order!"

"Sir, we are low on fuel, if I land this chopper we may not have enough to reach Cheyenne." Matlock warned his commanding officer, who shook his head.

"If we lose her, we may as well _not _go back to Cheyenne." The latter stated, "Now land!"

Matlock did as he was told. The chopper descended once more and landed in the clear spacing, stirring up a large cloud of ash with the motion of its rotors. Through the cloud came the four soldiers with the guns at the ready. Upon ensuring the LZ was secured, the group relaxed a little. Well, sort of.

"Why weren't you watching her?! You should have known she was gonna try and pull some stunt like that!" Ira started laying into LePointe almost immediately.

"You told me she was going along willingly, sir!" the corporal retorted.

"I also told you she threatened to kill herself before she would go with us! Use you fucking brain Jen!"

Wade and Davis stood by watching the drama unfold in tense silence. It was no secret in the unit that Ira and LePointe had been involved with each other at one point, but that ship had long since sailed. Still, it had left a sense of animosity between the two as they had not broken up on the best of terms.

"Alright, we gotta spread out and find them. Two man teams. I'll go with LePointe. Davis, you and Wade are together. Matlock, you stay here and guard the chopper. Locate Little Caesar and bring her back to the LZ _unharmed_." The sergeant ordered his men.

"What about the old guy?" asked Wade.

"If he's stupid enough to try and stop you, kill him!" said Ira sharply.

Wade and Davis exchanged a glance, but said nothing as they headed out into the remains of Jackson. After he watched them go, Ira turned back to LePointe who was looking at him angrily.

"You know you didn't have to insult me in front of them." She said quietly but with clear irritation.

"Why didn't you watch Little Caesar?"

"That wasn't my fault and you know it."

"Look, all I know is that I need to get this woman to Cheyenne in one piece or the old man is gonna have me shot. This is my last chance."

LePointe sighed and said nothing for a few minutes while her commander loaded up some supplies into a pack and gestured for her to follow him. The corporal hesitated, and spoke up suddenly.

"Sir?"

Ira turned to look at her, eyebrow raised.

"I think you made the right call. On that last mission, I mean. I know what the general said but…well I think you made the right call." She said a little nervously.

Ira said nothing at first; he simply stared at LePointe with an expression that she could not read. At last he said quietly: "thank you, Jen" and then headed off without another word.

LePointe stared at his back as he trotted ff and she couldn't help but feel a sense of pity for him.

"Poor man, he tries so hard to hide his guilt." She thought with a shake of her head, "When will he learn?"

With that, she followed after her commander. After all, in spite of all of their other misadventures and incidents, he had never led them astray before…

…especially her.

* * *

Ellie and Joel hadn't gotten very far when the sounds of voices reached their ears. Joel took cover behind the burnt out foundation of a house and peaked over the top. Three bandits (or at least he presumed them to be bandits, he didn't recognize any of them) stood in a large space between three charred buildings.

"I hate goin' through this place, man. It's creepy as hell." One of the men was complaining, "Plus the Clickers are starting to move in."

"Yeah I know, me and Tyler killed two of them last night." Another of the bandits confirmed, "How much longer we gotta stay here?"

"You heard Parker; we gotta be ready in case the redhead comes back. Plus he wants to make sure all of the supplies that we can scavenge get taken care of." The third man, obviously the leader of the small group, reminded his comrades sternly.

Ellie and Joel exchanged a worried look at this. Why were they waiting for her?

"Alright." Whispered the elder, leaning in close to Ellie, "I'm gonna go and make sure it's clear for us to go round. You cover me from here just in case things get thick." He gestured toward the small alleyway like path created by two burnt houses that would allow the pair to bypass the group.

"I can do that, I'll…." Ellie began a protest, but Joel shook his head.

"You got the assault rifle, you're better for it." He reminded her.

Ellie looked like she was going to protest some more, but in the end she gave in and nodded silently.

Joel gave her a half-hearted grin and a thankful nod before creeping off toward the edge of the foundation. Deciding that she would have a better angle on the bandits from the top of the foundation, Ellie moved quietly to the top of the debris covered slab and moved in-between two rafters, assault rifle at the ready. However, she had failed to calculate the weakened state of the wood and as she was leaning against one of the rafters, it broke and she lost her balance. In a cloud of ash and cursing, Ellie tumbled forward and hit the ground. She lay there for a time, staring up at the gray overcast sky in utter shock. Suddenly, the grinning face of one of the bandits appeared over her and she felt herself being lifted to her feet.

"Well, well, well, what have we here." The man announced as he showed his prize to his two companions.

"Red hair, mid twenties…" said the leader of the group, grabbing Ellie's arm and yanking up her sleeve revealing the scar on the spot where she had been infected all those years ago. "the scars a match. It's her!" he confirmed with a satisfied grin.

"Fuck yeah! We can get the hell out of this rat hole." The bandit who had caught her cheered.

"Let me go asshole!" Ellie shouted, slamming her foot into the man's shin.

He cringed and released her to grab at his injured leg. However, the man who was in charge quickly grabbed her and pinned her arms behind her back while his companion drew a gun and aimed it at Ellie's chest.

"Easy darlin', you're worth a lot more to someone alive than dead." The man cautioned her.

"Fuck you!"

"Woooh hoo she's a wild one!" laughed the man she had kicked as he grabbed her by the chin and lifted her face toward his, "I like 'em wild."

A furious Ellie spat right in the man's face and he turned away briefly before looking back at her with a furious gaze.

"You bitch!" he hissed, raising his hand to slap her.

"BAM!" a gunshot sounded and the man with the handgun fell dead.

"BAM! CRACK! CRACK! BLAM!" several more rapid succession shots were fired. Three of them hit the man who was about to strike Ellie and he fell dead as well.

The final bandits who had been holding Ellie moved so that she was in front of him. Sergeant Ira appeared from the shadows, his M4 rifle aimed at the cowardly bandit.

"You stay back, I'll break her neck!" the villain warned the soldier who continued to aim his gun at the man.

Ellie stomped hard on the man's foot and he let out a grunt of pain and his grip loosened. Ellie wiggled a hand free and punched the bandit across the face, who stumbled back. The young lady moved as fast as she could out of the way, and as soon as his field of fire was clear, Ira fired. At least three shots struck the final bandit in the chest and he joined his comrades within seconds. Without hesitation, Ellie reached down and grabbed the handgun the bandit had dropped (her M16 was still lying on the ground where she had dropped it after falling off the foundation) and aimed it at Ira. The latter was already aiming his M4 at her.

"Whoa, whoa, Ellie!" he warned her.

They stood in a tense stalemate at first, each staring at the other, each aiming right for the other's head.

"C'mon Ellie…" Ira whispered in an almost pleading tone, "…is it really worth dying for…not to see him? He's your father."

Ellie snorted contemptuously.

"Let me put it in perspective for you." She said, "That piece of shit got my mother pregnant and then dumped her out on the street like an unwanted dog to save his _reputation_. Then she dies and he feels _just_ guilty enough to track me down, take me away from one of the few people who ever cared about me, and stick me in some military institute without even bothering to come see me in person."

Ira nodded in understanding. "Okay, so you're angry at him, I get that. But maybe you could fix that, Ellie. Maybe you two could finally bury the hatchet."

There was something in the sergeant's voice. Ellie wasn't sure if she would ever understand it, but it made her trust him. She wasn't about to put the gun down, but still, he was indeed persuasive. It seemed like he meant every word he was saying, and perhaps he did. She did not care however; there was no in hell she was going without a fight. A glint of light out of the corner of her eye caught Ellie's attention, and she grinned.

"Joel." She thought.

"Plus I got news for you, jarhead." She continued, still grinning, "I sent reinforcements around the flank."

Right on cue, Joel stepped out from behind his concealment, pistol aimed at Ira. The sergeant glanced at Joel and shook his head.

"It doesn't have to be like this you know?" he said quietly in an effort to reason with the old man, "We mean her no harm. All of this shit is just because she feels like being so damn stubborn and that's not my fault."

"She ain't goin' nowhere with y'all." Joel growled, pulling back the hammer in his pistol.

Ira let out a sad sigh. "I really wish it didn't have to be this way."

Suddenly, LePointe appeared behind Joel and pressed the barrel of pistol against the back of his head.

"Drop it, now!" she ordered him.

Ellie glanced at Joel's captor and then back at Ira, then back at the captive Joel once more. It was a stalemate once more.

"So…like I said Ellie…" Ira continued, drawing her attention back to him.

"…is it really worth dying for?"

* * *

_So many unanswered questions, but be utterly maddening for the rest of you. Is it really worth dying for? Perhaps, meantime, the poll for Ellie's love interest is now closed and I'd say Sergeant Ira was a pretty clear winner. If you have any complaints or compliments please let me know in a review, I'd much appreciate it. Cheers. _


	13. Seperation of powers

Chapter 13

Separation of powers

It was perhaps the most intense standoff Ellie had ever been involved in. The air seemed to hum with anticipation as each waited out the others first move. Ira continued to aim at Ellie and her at him. LePointe, as if trying to add emphasis to her threat, grabbed Joel's shoulder and pulled him back so that the end of her gun was pushing deep into his neck.

"You decide how this goes down, Ellie." Ira reminded her.

Said redhead shifted her aim toward LePointe, then back at Ira, then back to LePointe once more.

"You can't kill me. You need me alive." She said at last, focusing back on Ira.

"True." Said the sergeant with a nod toward Joel, "but _he _is expendable. I know you care for him, Ellie. You had us bring him all the way here."

"Goddamn it, just let us go!" Ellie burst out in frustration. It was a stalemate and she knew it. No matter what, there was no good ending to this.

"I can't do that, Ellie. You know that."

"Why not? You can tell him I'm dead or something."

"If that's the case, I'm ordered to bring back your body."

"FOR GOD'S SAKE, TELL HIM IT WAS IRRECOVERABLE OR SOMETHING, I DON'T GIVE A SHIT!" she was getting desperate now.

Ira didn't even reply, he just shook his head.

"Drop the gun, now!" LePointe ordered Ellie, pulling back on the hammer of her gun with a 'click'.

"Don't do it Ellie!" Joel shouted, causing LePointe to hit him in the back with the butt of her gun.

"Shut up!" she barked.

Ellie saw red and aimed her gun at the corporal once more. "You hit him again and it's the last thing you'll do alive, bitch!" she growled.

"Enough! Ellie, I'm gonna count to three. If you haven't put the gun down by the end, the corporal _will_ shoot him." Ira cut in, the frustration in his voice evident.

There was another tense silence as Ellie did not reply, but continued to aim at the corporal.

"One more down for a turnover, right?" Ellie called to Joel.

"Unless they fumble the ball." He replied.

"One…"

"We're still at the 40th yard line here." Ellie glanced at Ira then back at Joel.

"Our side or theirs?"

"Really?" the pair continued their coded conversation.

"Two…"

"I'm not that great of a QB." Ellie's voice was gaining urgency, though Joel's remained surprisingly calm. Then again, it probably wasn't the first time he had had a gun to his head.

"Try a Hail Mary then."

"Are you crazy?"

"Clock's ticking, end of the 4th quarter here!"

"Damn it, Joel!"

"Three!"

Ellie aimed at LePointe, intending to shoot the corporal in the head. It was a gamble, and she was betting that Ira would not shoot her on account of the fact that he needed her alive. It had a 50-50 chance, but in the end she would never get to know the result. As her finger tightened around the trigger a shriek rose up.

"AAAAAIEEEEEAAA!" a Runner appeared behind LePointe and grabbed her.

The corporal let out a scream and Ira turned his focus on the imperiled woman.

"Jen!" he shouted, aiming at the infected and firing.

Ellie and Joel had moved so that they were standing side-by-side and were now watching as more infected poured over the sides of the buildings and through the small gaps between them.

"Holy shit, they moved in fast!" Ellie noted before raising her gun and squeezing off several rounds into two nearby Clickers.

But she may as well have fired the bullets into the air for all the good it did. As soon as those Clickers fell, four more took their place. An entire Swarm (the nickname the survivors had given to groups of more than ten infected) was filling the space and the group was quickly realizing it was a losing battle. Ira, who had managed to pry the Runner off of LePointe, cut down two or three infected and managed to get next to Ellie. The two were back to back as a whole group of runners surrounded them. Each fired at their attackers on their side.

"Going to Cheyenne starting to look better yet?" Ira asked as they fought off the infected.

"Not even close." Was Ellie's reply, causing the sergeant to smile. She had heart, that was for sure.

Suddenly, Ira heard Ellie's gun emit a click, indicating it was out of ammo.

"Shit!" he heard the young lady swear, confirming this.

"C'mon!" he called to her, shooting two Runners and opening the way for them toward one of the alleyways between two of the burnt houses, "we gotta go!"

"JOEL!" Ellie shouted, looking around, but unable to find him in the swarm of infected that was rapidly closing in.

"NOW!" Ira screamed, not even waiting for Ellie to respond, but grabbing her and dragging her away as fast as he could.

At first Ellie struggled, but when she saw the large amount of pursuing infected, her survival instincts kicked in and she briefly forgot Joel and she too ran from. The pair charged down the ash covered ground; stirring up clouds of the stuff that Ellie would turn and see it filled by the ravenous horde that was following her and the sergeant, baying for their blood. It was a hellish scene.

"In here!" Ira had grabbed her again, and this time pulled her with him as he ducked inside a house that was still in fairly good condition and slammed the door behind them.

Ellie could hear the bodies of the mindless monsters (some of which had been her former neighbors) as they slammed into the door in a cascade of loud thumps and shrieks of pain and anguish. It hurt her to hear those sounds; something in her soul always cringed at them. It reminded her of all those she had lost to the infection: Riley, Sam, and even Tess. After several minutes, the sounds died off as the infected seemed to lose interest and leave. Ira had pressed her up against the wall and shielded her protectively. Now, in the awkward silence, Ellie became uncomfortably aware of the sergeant's warm breath on her neck as he inhaled and exhaled rapidly.

It felt good. Ellie shook her head. No, no way was she thinking that.

"Can you get off of me, _please_." She hissed.

Ira seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then moved away, allowing the redhead to step away from the wall and straighten herself up. Ira stepped away and cleared his throat uncomfortably. Ellie shot him a look and then turned to head out the door, but Ira grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Uuuuh, I wouldn't do that." He cautioned her, "They might still be out there."

"Ok." The latter agreed and then moved to head toward the back door of the building.

To her surprise, Ira let out a laugh, causing Ellie to turn and glare at him. "What?"

"You're so stubborn you know that? Look around you. If this place was your home, there's nothing left of it now." The sergeant pointed out the burned building they now stood in.

"So I suppose you think I'm just going to magically have a change of heart and go with you to Cheyenne then? Yeah, dream on soldier boy."

"Where else do you have to go?"

The question hit her hard. Where did she have to go? Jackson had been her home for ten years, and she sure as hell wasn't going back to Boston and the academy, that was of course, if the Boston QZ was still even standing. A lot could change in ten years. For now, however, she pushed the question of where she would go from her mind. She had only one goal right now.

"I don't know, but right now I'm going to find Joel." She said simply, and walked off without another word.

Ira watched her go in mild fascination. He had rarely ever seen a woman with such stubbornness, loyalty, or will (excepting maybe Jen). The type of person who didn't give up, surrender wasn't in their vocabulary.

"Shit, I might just ask the general if she can be in my squad after all this is over." He thought to himself, though it was more of a joke really.

Still, there was no denying that Ellie was something else. He liked her, respected her, and so after watching Ellie's retreating form, Ira followed after her.

Strength in numbers and all that right?

* * *

"ELLIE!" Joel shouted as he and the female corporal were cut off from Ellie and Sergeant Ira by a mob of infected.

His companion was busy shooting at the rabble of mindless monsters that was closing in on them, but soon recognized that she was overwhelmed.

"C'mon old man, we gotta fall back, NOW!" Le Pointe shouted as she shot a Runner in the head that was charging her.

Joel continued to stare at the spot where Ellie had stood for only a second more before tuning and following the already fleeing LePointe. He glanced back and noted that not as many infected seemed to be following them as he might have imagined.

"The majority of them must have gone after Ellie and the sergeant." He thought, feeling his stomach drop. He had to find her.

The street they had chosen to follow ended abruptly as a large pile of rubble where a house seemed to have collapsed onto the road.

"Aw fuck!" LePointe hissed as she turned back the way they had come.

Both could hear the approaching infected.

"I need a gun!" Joel said to LePointe urgently, who looked at him like he was crazy.

"No way!" she shot back.

"You really wanna argue about this. Two is better chances than one!"

LePointe seemed torn on the issue. At last, she let out a frustrated "damn it!" and reached into the holster on her side and pulled out a pistol which she threw to him.

Joel caught the firearm and nodded appreciatively before turning his attention to the approaching group of infected. The group consisted of two or three Runners being led by two Clickers. It wasn't the most favorable odds, but still, Joel had faced worse. So, as soon as the monsters were in range, Joel opened fire. He was a deadly shot, years of experience had given him that, and his first shot struck one of the Runners clean in the head, killing it instantly. The second shot hit a Clicker and chipped off a sizable chunk of fungus from its face causing it to flinch a little but continue running.

It was LePointe's turn and she raised her M4 and fired. She managed to down both the wounded Clicker and another Runner. That left the final Clicker and a Runner. The former flailed its arms wildly as it lunged at the elder man as he stepped back to avoid its deadly grasp. It was of little use however as the clicker grabbed him roughly and opened its hideous mouth to deliver a deadly bite to Joel's neck!

"Blam!" the gunshot sounded and Joel watched as a bullet passed through the Clicker's neck and it fell dead.

The remaining Runner had been standing by rather awkwardly it seemed, but it now let out a scream of rage and charged at Joel. Said Texan recovered quickly and raised his gun, firing three shots into the infected's chest, knocking it flat on its back where it twitched briefly before falling still. They sat still for a time, just catching their breath for a moment.

"Not bad old man." LePointe observed as she straightened up.

"Something's not right. There shoulda been more of 'em after us." Joel muttered, ignoring the compliment.

"Or you could just accept the fact that we got lucky." Jen said exasperatedly.

"They must have gone after Ellie, shit!" Joel continued ignoring her and started off back toward the way they had come.

"Hey, if you're just gonna march off in the direction of the infected, why don't you give the handgun back as well? It would fit right in with your usual sound decision making!" she called after him, causing Joel to pause.

As much as he hated to admit it, the soldier had a point. Heading right back into the fray was not going to solve anything. No, Ellie was a fighter and he knew it. If they were after her she'd find a way to get out of it. She always did. He had taught her that much anyway.

"Ok, fair point." Joel conceded and turned before walking toward the pile of rubble and started climbing over it.

"And just where the Hell do you think you're going?" LePointe called after him.

"The garage, that's where we were headed before the little "reunion" we all had. If she's alive, she'll meet me there." Joel explained as he attempted to climb over the debris. However, the pain in his back forced him back on the ground with a grunt of pain.

"Damn age." He thought, but attempted again anyhow, but to no success.

LePointe watched the scene with a slight bit of amusement. At last she moved so that she stood next to his on the rubble and clasped her hands together.

"Here, I'll boost you up." She offered.

Joel looked at her skeptically. "You kiddin' me? You had a gun to my head ten minutes ago."

"And I saved your ass about three minutes ago. Now c'mon." the latter insisted with a roll of her eyes.

Joel still hesitated. He had never trusted the military, not since Sarah's death and he sure was not about to start now. Still, he was bottle necked at this point and a rational part of himself told him that the only way out of the current situation was to work with the resources he had to work with, and for now that included the young corporal. So, albeit with obvious hesitation, he climbed up into LePointe's grasp and allowed her to boost him over the large chunk of wall that was blocking their way. Once he was over, he reached down and offered his hand to the corporal. She looked at it with her own hesitation for a moment, causing Joel to roll his eyes but he didn't say anything. After a minute, she did indeed take his hand and he helped her up (as best as he could with the pain in his back) and soon they were both sanding on top of the wall staring at one another awkwardly.

"C'mon, we gotta get goin' before the infected come back." Joel muttered, breaking the silence and hoping down the other side of the wall.

He hit the ground with a grunt and LePointe followed. Soon, they were making their way cautiously down the street once more, eyes and ears open for the slightest sound of trouble. For the most part they encountered little of it, which caused Joel further suspicion and fear. Where was everybody? Surely the bandits were still patrolling the ruins, and the infected had a clear presence. So where was it all?

"So where's this garage of yours old man?" LePointe asked suddenly.

"You wanna pick another name other than "old man" lady?" Joel growled back.

"Ok, where's the garage, old timer?"

Joel didn't reply, but simply grumbled and swore out his frustration under his breath as he took in his surroundings. The place was in utter ruin. The fires seemed to have spread uncontrollably as there was not a single building that did sport evidence of fire damage, though of course some stood better than others. In spite of the damage, Joel was able to recognize where they were fairly quickly and gestured in a direction to the upper left of them.

"That way thereabouts." He concluded and started off in that direction without waiting for a response.

It did not really matter anyway. LePointe followed after, wanting personally to get to the garage and be rid of the old codger as fast as possible. Joel's unease grew with each step they encountered no resistance.

"This ain't right." He muttered as they drew so near to the garage that Joel could see it just down the street.

"Don't look a gifted horse in the mouth, old timer, let's just keep moving." LePointe cautioned him.

"You know, you're pretty damn reckless for a soldier." Joel hissed, stopping suddenly and spinning to look at her.

"I don't give a fuck what you think! But as long as we're sharing feelings, I don't like you either, in fact if it was up to me, you'd still be in that cabin getting torn apart by Clickers!"

Each was staring into the other's eyes. It was a standoff of intense proportions. Two wills going head-to-head over who was right and who was wrong. It was a battle to behold, and most amazingly, a silent one. The battle royale was interrupted by a loud series of shrieks causing Joel to break the stalemate and glance back down the road. Several Runners were stumbling across the street, but something seemed very wrong. The things were thrashing and pounding on their heads as they shambled across the street without even taking notice of the pair of survivors. They seemed to be in pain, well, more than usual anyway.

LePointe noticed them too and turned back to Joel. "We better get to that garage, now!" she said in a serious tone and for once Joel agreed.

They ran down the road, stirring up small clouds of ash as they did so. Joel was the first to reach the garage and they entered through one of the massive metal door in the side that was left open. In comparison to the other buildings in Jackson, the garage seemed to be the most untouched. The structure was still standing and most of the inside was hardly singed. Upon entering, Joel moved over to inspect the vehicle repair area while LePointe wandered around the garage observing the cluttered tables of tools, half fixed cars, and other implements.

"It's gone." Joel's voice caused her to look back over at him. He was on the other side of the garage staring at a massive empty spot where she assumed a vehicle must have been parked at some point.

"What is?" she inquired.

"The truck that Tommy and I fixed the turret onto." Joel observed as he started searching through the papers and tools on a nearby table.

"I don't understand. What does that mean?" the corporal was still confused as she approached the table.

"Well, it means two things. Either Tommy is alive and he escaped usin' the turret or the bandits took it and are drivin' around a truck armed with a .50 caliber turret right now."

"Sorry I asked." Jen muttered as she took scanned the documents on the table.

As she did so, something caught her eyes. She reached over and pulled a small map of the United States out from under several papers. It looked like an ordinary map except for the fact that someone had drawn another Texas on it. But while the normal Texas borders were there, the drawing of the Lone Star State covered Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and other states. Below the drawing someone had written: "find us at home, Joel."

"Hey." She said, handing the map to Joel, "does this mean anything to you?"

Joel took it and examined the message and doodle and shook his head.

"Tommy, it must be but…why would they go all the way back to Texas?"

"I think the better question would be, why did he draw a Texas on there instead of just circling Texas or something, it's not like others won't recognize the drawing." Said LePointe thoughtfully.

Joel studied the map carefully for a few minutes. At last he seemed to come upon something, and his eyebrows raised as it hit him.

"Wait…" he muttered as he traced his finger from the small star on the map in the middle of Texas that had "Austin" next to it and traced it back to where Austin would be in the Texas doodle.

Austin wasn't there of course, but another star was there. The words next to it read: "Cheyenne."

LePointe watched as he located the spot and they glanced up at one another.

"Well, now I'd say you and Ellie have a pretty good reason to go to Cheyenne with us." She observed.

"Why would they go to Cheyenne?" Joel wondered aloud, still as confused as he had been before.

"How would I know?"

"Yeah, _you _wouldn't question it. That's where you _want _us to go."

"Are really suggesting I did this?! I've been here the whole time with you!"

"Well then maybe your sergeant left this, I don't…"

"Left what?" the voice caused the pair to spin around.

Ira stood with Ellie next to him staring at Joel and LePointe in confusion.

"Ellie!" Joel exclaimed, moving over toward her and giving her a hug, which she returned gratefully.

"You're alright." The young redhead said in relief.

Joel grinned. "They ain't getting' rid of me that easy."

LePointe had been busy showing Ira the map they had found and after glancing over it and hearing the corporal's explanation of it, he looked back up at Joel and Ellie.

"Well, it seems we have a common interest now." He stated.

"Bullshit we do, I still don't see why my brother would go to Cheyenne." Joel growled moving defensively in front of Ellie.

"Joel…" said Ellie quietly, "I think we should go with them."

The elderly Texan turned at stared at Ellie like she was crazy. "What?" he said incredulously.

"Look around, Joel. What's left for us here?"

"You think your dad's gonna solve that?"

"No, but it's a better alternative then staying here or wandering around the wilderness. Besides if Tommy really is in Cheyenne…."

Joel turned away from Ellie and glared at Ira. "What did you say to her?" he hissed.

"Don't blame him. I'm making my own decision, Joel." Ellie grabbed Joel's shoulder and spun him around so he was looking at her once more, "and I say we go with them. What have we got left to lose?"

Joel stared into those green eyes and saw the exhaustion and fear that seemed to be tormenting Ellie of over the past several days. It pained him to see it. She always looked so tired, so weighed, so….old. A twenty four year old woman should not have had to look like that.

"Did you run into much trouble on the way over?" Ira was inquiring of LePointe while Joel and Ellie had their moment.

"Surprisingly no. You?" the latter replied.

Ira shook his head. "Haven't seen a single infected since the attack. It's strange."

"Actually, there's a very good explanation for it all." A voice echoed throughout the garage and the quartet looked up to see a man dressed in a white lab coat.

The man was mostly bald except for a ring of white hair around the sides and back of his head. He had blue eyes and a wrinkled face that was dominated by a white mustache. He was grinning down at the group. What caught Ellie's attention most was the strange device the man wore on his back. It looked like a big metal box with an antenna protruding out of the top, like an old radio Ellie had once seen in a book about World War II technology she had read back in Boston.

"Who the hell are you?!" Joel demanded, causing the man to smile more broadly.

"Dr. Herbert Charles." He called back to them in a distinct British accent.

"And I'm here for Miss Beckett."

* * *

_The good doctor returns. We all remember him from the first chapter right? Sparks fly between Ellie and Ira as well ;). When will they ever stop hunting her? Answer: never, muwahahahaha. Anyways, hope you're all liking the story. Don't forget to review and tell me what a great (or in your opinion terrible) job I'm doing, lol. Cheers. _


	14. I'm not dying like this

Chapter 14

I'm not dying like this

In almost one movement, Joel, Ira, and LePointe all moved in front Ellie. For one brief instant all three of them, polar opposites in background, personality, and motivation, were united in the defense of one thing: Ellie. LePointe and Ira aimed their weapons up at the stranger while Joel stood in front of Ellie, shielding her from view.

"Who the hell are you?" Ira demanded.

"A man of science, sir. There is no need for the guns." The doctor called back down.

The soldier scowled. "I'll be the judge of that. This woman is in Los Angeles Military custody and she is coming with us."

Dr. Charles gave a sigh. "Ellie…" He addressed the hidden redhead despite not being able to see her, "Our shepherd sends his greetings and would like to _politely_ extend you an invitation to join our flock as you have always been meant to be."

"God Damn it, I'm sick of being on everyone's fucking list." Ellie thought angrily, but she did not say anything aloud.

"What the hell do you mean, 'as she was _meant _to be'?" Joel shouted up at the man, aiming his pistol at him.

The doctor just stared blankly at the old man for several seconds before gesturing toward the woman behind Joel once more.

"Her arm." He said simply.

"What about her arm?" Ira initiated another inquiry, but Doctor Charles shook his head.

"I will not waste time explaining our mission to an ignorant boorish man such as you, Joel Carson!"

"How do you know my name!?"

Even Ellie was shocked. She had never heard anyone use Joel's last name before (the pair had exchanged last names several years ago after Ellie had demanded to know Joel's) and for this man who they had never met to know it was absolutely shocking.

"That does not matter." The doctor waved his had dismissively before reaching around and pulling the strange device off of his back, "You were noting the lack of liberated in the area, Sergeant."

"Liberated?"

"You call them infected. We see it a different way. In any case, I'd like to introduce you to my child. Years of research on Clicker echolocation and sound waves has led to this device. It outputs sound waves at a frequency so high that the human ear cannot hear it. However, liberated have much greater hearing then a regular human being and thus they are able to pick up the waves." Dr. Charles explained as he set the device on the metal catwalk before him and started fiddling with something on the back.

"Currently the device is set to generate waves at a frequency that will cause extreme pain and duress on the liberateds' systems and thus cause them to avoid the area. However, if we reverse that…"

The doctor finished fiddling and twisted something causing the pack to hum slightly and then fall silent once more. Dr. Charles smiled cruelly.

"…it attracts them like lushes to a pub."

At first it remained fairly quiet. However, as the seconds ticked by a loud din of wailing and shrieking began to rise. Soon it filled the air with a hellish symphony of screams, shrieks, and clicks that seemed to be coming from all directions. It was something straight out of a horror movie.

"Good luck to you all. I imagine the liberated will have much to discuss." The doctor, upon placing the device on his back once more, nodded to the group and then retreated through a door.

The sounds of the infected grew louder and Ira turned to the others with a terrified look on his face.

"We need to get the fuck out of here, NOW!" he shouted.

"Where are we gonna, they must be everywhere out there!" LePointe shot back.

"Shut the doors!" Joel was the first to really take action and he moved toward the open garage door and began to pull on the chains. However, the door did not budge.

"Damn it, the fires must have damaged the mechanism." Joel realized as he gave up.

Glancing out the open door, he saw a Swarm approaching with a least twenty plus infected in its ranks.

"They're comin'!" he shouted a warning to his companions as he ran back toward them.

"We can't stay here!" LePointe repeated to her superior who was holding a hand up to his left temple.

"I know, I know, let me think!" the sergeant was glancing around wildly. "Uuuuuuuuuuh…."

"Fuck this!" Ellie snapped suddenly and she strode over to several bulky objects covered in sheets.

She removed the sheets revealing the things to be cars.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ira asked as he watched her.

"I helped work on these cars. I'm sure they still have gas in them and will run. You have any better ideas?" Ellie explained as she gestured toward a white Infinite.

Ira did not, so he gestured for LePointe to get in the car. Ellie took up the driver's seat while Ira took the front. Joel, after a brief hesitation, got into the back with LePointe. By now the infected were starting to enter the garage. There were so many of them that they were having trouble all fitting through the massive open doors. Ellie didn't have much time to marvel at the huge amount of infected howling for the quartet's blood, however. As she reached for where the car key should have been and found only an empty keyhole, she looked up across the garage at a series of plastic bins that held the keys to the cars.

"Shit, hold on I'll be back!" she said quickly and was gone before anyone in the car could object.

"Ellie, wait! Goddammit!" Joel cussed as he too got out of the car and Ira followed soon after.

They both watched from the car for a moment, stunned, as Ellie ran toward the key bins. A runner came at her and she belted it across the face with Joel's revolver before shooting it in the head. It fell dead where it stood. Without hesitating, she kept moving. A Clicker lunged at her and she allowed it to flail past her and then turned and plugged it right in the back of the head, also killing it instantly (the fungus was weakest in the back as she had learned over the years).

"Damn, she's a fighter." Ira observed in amazement.

"She should be I raised her." Joel replied, breaking out of the shock and running after her. Ira followed after.

By now Ellie had reached the bins and was rifling through them as more and more infected managed to squeeze through the crowded doorways and charge toward her.

"C'mon, c'mon, where are they!" Ellie whispered urgently as she sifted through each bin.

At last she found it, a bin marked "Infiniti" on a piece of tape. She reached in and retrieved the key before turning to run back to the car.

"IIIIEEEAAA" a Runner grabbed her and tried to sink its teeth into her face. Ellie managed to hold it at bay with her arms on its chest and neck, but others were swiftly approaching.

"BRAP BRAP BRAP BRAP!" Ira opened fired with his M4 and cut down three of the approaching infected.

"BAM" Joel shot the Runner that was grappling with Ellie and it slumped onto her.

The young woman pushed the body off of her and got to her feet. Joel was already there with her, helping her up while Ira continued to shoot at the increasing number of infected in the garage.

"GO, GO!" Joel urged Ellie back toward the car and they fell back with Ira bringing up the rear still firing on their pursuers. Ellie rammed the key into the ignition upon returning to the Infiniti and turned it.

The car chugged a little, but did not start. Ira had got into the passenger's seat and slammed the door behind him as a Clicker slammed into the window, clawing and slamming its mouth against the glass leaving blood and greenish drool.

"ANYDAY NOW!" LePointe shouted over the din as the infected surrounded the car and began to shake and pound on it.

"C'mon baby, c'mon…" Ellie whispered as she turned the key for the fifth.

The car made so whirring noises and for a moment Ellie thought it was going to start, but no, it fell dead once more.

"FUCK!" she shouted in frustration, pounding on the wheel.

"ELLIE!" it was Joel who was watching as the windshield was beginning to crack under the strain of at least three Clickers pounding on it.

LePointe raised her rifle to shoot at a Runner screaming at her through the passenger window, but Joel reached over and stopped her.

"No, you'll just weaken the window and let them in quicker."

She looked at him angrily for a moment, but soon realized that his words made sense so she did not shoot the infected. The Infected showed no such mercy of course, all the windows began to crack and creak under the blows of the veracious fungal hosts as they beat their fists bloody trying to get to the four survivors.

"Ellie for the love of god, they'll be in here any minute!" Ira knew time was running out and so did Ellie.

She gave one last desperate turn of the key, giving it everything she had.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Ellie hissed through her teeth as the engine chugged and sputtered.

"I'm not dying like this!" this time the redhead shouted the words aloud, and as if in response, the car roared to life.

"That's it, GO!" Joel screamed and Ellie yanked the gearshift into drive and slammed her foot onto the gas.

"IEEEEEEEEEEERRRR" the tires squealed in such a fashion as to rival the screaming infected around it as the car sped forward, knocking away its assaulters.

'THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!" Ellie ran down everything infected in her way as she drove her way toward the garage door.

There was still a large group of infected trying to make its way through the open garage door.

"Hang on!" she warned the rest of them as she put the car in reverse and back up a ways, hitting several infected who were still in a condition to pursue the car.

Once she was a good distance back (almost to the back of the confines of the garage) she slammed it back into drive and sped at the door. Later Ellie would have likened their breakthrough to that of drying to drive through a water fall. As soon as they hit the wall of infected blood utterly exploded all over the widow and body parts could see flying around as the car plowed through the mixture of Runners and Clickers. The entire car shook as it drove over numerous bodies. Suddenly, with a enormous rattle and heave, they broke through and the car landed on the street with a 'clang'.

Ellie hit the gas once more and the car zoomed down the street, swerving as best she cloud to avoid the piles of rubble and other obstacles they escaped the infected who were quickly falling behind them. As she watched the retreating infected, LePointe actually laughed.

"Holy shit that was close. I don't know what luck you live off of, Ellie, but its damn finicky at best." She observed.

"That's putting it lightly." Ellie muttered back.

"Alright, hang a right here." Ira broke in, gesturing toward a four way intersection they were approaching.

"Why?"

"The choppers that way."

"No way, we ain't…" Joel began to object, but he noted the glare Ellie had shot him through the rearview mirror and fell silent.

The car turned right as instructed. As they continued on (again encountering almost no infected, which Ellie imagined was due to their all being summoned to the garage by the device) Ira reached for the radio in his belt and turned it on.

"Wade, Davis, report in." he called into it.

"Not much contact, boss. A few bandits, but practically no infected. Guess we got lucky." Wade's voice called back.

Ira rolled his eyes and the others in the car either scoffed or let out groans of annoyance.

"Yeah, well, we're catching hell in a hacksaw over here. Get back to the chopper, ASAP. We're getting the fuck out of here!"

"Yes sir."

Ira placed the radio back on his belt and went back to watching the road intently, occasionally calling out instructions like, "turn left here" or "straight ahead."

As they drew near where the chopper would be, Ira got back on the radio and told Matlock to "warm it up."

Ellie glanced back at the sergeant as he was relaying his orders. In doing so, she failed to notice the homemade spike strip, basically a long piece of leather that had been filled large nail, shards of metal, and other sharp implements, which pierced the tires of the car mercilessly. Almost immediately the car went out of control, swerving back and forth across the road as Ellie struggled to drive on bare rims. It wasn't working.

"LOOK OUT!" shouted someone, though Ellie was too distracted to discern who.

"OH SHIT!" was all Ellie was able to get out before the car slammed into the side of a building and all went black.

* * *

"_So, this everything you hoped for?"_

"_It has its moments; you can't deny the view though."_

"_We're shitty people, Joel. It's been that way awhile, now."_

"_We are survivors!"_

"_This is your fault!"_

"_It's over Tess!"_

Joel's eyes fluttered open. He became aware straight away that he was no longer sitting in the car, but lying on the asphalt road. The elder Texan glanced over and saw the car rammed into the side of a building, burning. He then turned his head the other way and saw Ellie, still lying unconscious a few feet away.

"Ellie!" Joel called to her in a cracked and broken voice.

He struggled to stand, but the pain in his back came back in full force, sending him into spasms on the ground.

"Goddamn it, what the fuck is going on in there?!" Joel wondered as he grasped at his back in pain.

Ignoring the stinging sensation that assaulting every inch of his spine, Joel began to crawl across the street toward Ellie's motionless body. However, he was not the only one who was trying to reach her. A group of three men suddenly appeared from the side of Joel's vision and two of them reached won and lifted up the unconscious Ellie.

"Let go of her, let go of her!" Joel was screaming at the men.

One of the men, the one who wasn't helping carry Ellie, looked over and saw Joel. The man strode over to him and pulled a pistol from behind his back which he aimed down at the old man who was staring up at him defiantly. The man grinned cruelly and his finger tightened around the trigger as he prepared to fire one into Joel's skull.

Someone beat him to it however. A gunshot sounded and a bullet, rather than hitting Joel's, hit the man's head and he crumpled dead. Joel rolled over with a groan and Ira's face appeared over him.

"C'mon old man, on your feet." The sergeant tried to help him to his feet, but Joel gave a cry of pain and Ira stopped and instead kneeled down next to him.

Meanwhile, LePointe was standing next to the downed Joel with her assault rifle pointed at the pair who was trying to carry Ellie off.

"Drop her, now!" she ordered them.

The men glanced up at the corporal and suddenly both started to back away, dropping Ellie in the process and running down the road in the opposite direction. LePointe watched them run with a look of satisfaction on her face.

"Ha, that was easy." She observed, feeling rather proud of herself.

"Uuh, Jen…" Ira said slowly, causing her to turn to look at him and thus allowing her to see what he was now staring at.

An entire Swarm of at least twenty infected was making its way down the road toward them.

"Oh shit…" muttered Joel.

"Get him on his feet, c'mon move!" Ira stood up and gestured toward Joel before running toward the still unconscious Ellie.

While Ira struggled to wake her, LePointe reached down and wrapped Joel's arm around her shoulder before lifting him to his feet. Joel groaned and grunted in pain the whole way but still managed to stay on his feet. The pain had dimmed a little. Still supporting Joel, LePointe and her charge made their way toward Ira and Ellie. The latter's eyes had finally opened and she was rubbing her head and groaning.

"What the fuck happened?" she muttered.

"No time, just get up and run." Was all Ira told her as he helped her to her feet.

Ellie glanced back at Joel who was being helped along by LePointe.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Never better." Joel said through teeth clenched at the pain in his back (all this movement and banging around sure wasn't doing him any favors).

"Talk later, run now!" the corporal reminded them as the group began to run, as fast as it could with Joel's injury, down the street away from the Swarm.

"Matlock, what the hell's the situation at the LZ!" Ira was shouting into his radio as they ran.

"Sarge, where the hell have you been? I've been burning fuel just sitting here! Wade and Davis are already on board, what…?"

"Shut up and listen! We need a pick up now; we're only a few blocks from the LZ. DO you hear me?! We need a pickup now!"

"I got you, I got you, we're on our way."

The group turned a corner and found themselves facing a dead end. The road did continued on, but part of a building had collapsed and thus a massive pile of rubble blocked the road.

"There's no way I can climb that." Said Joel, looking up at the mountain of ash and mortar.

Ira and LePointe turned their focus back on the pursuing infected, some of whom were lardy rounding the corner a few feet away.

"Shit! Matlock where are you?!" Ira was screaming into the radio as at least seven or eight infected bore down on them.

Suddenly, the chopper appeared over head, whirring loudly and the sounds of gunshots could be heard as Wade and Davis fired down on the infected form the chopper with their own assault rifles. They managed to cut down two or three of the infected, and Ira and LePointe managed to finish off the rest, but more were coming.

"Sarge, I can't land there, the streets to narrow." Matlock warned his commander over the radio.

"Rodger that, get in as close you can to that hole in the upstairs of the building on your left and have the door wide open!" Ira ordered him before grabbing Ellie's hand, saying "c'mon", and leading her inside the barely standing structure. LePointe and Joel followed suit with the infected right on their heels.

Only half of the wooden staircase upstairs remained, so the group was forced to hug the wall as they made their way up. Joel and LePointe went first by Ira's insistence followed by Ellie third and Ira bringing up the rear. As they did so, a Clicker suddenly lunged at them from the ground, cuaing Ellie to push Ira out of the way.

"Look out!" she shouted.

The Clicker missed and smacked into the wall before falling off the stair case and impaling on the sharp lagged wood below. However, the momentum she had used to move Ira had caused Ellie to lose her balance and she to fell off the edge. In an instant, Ira had grabbed her arm and she no dangled off the edge, looking down at the sharp stakes below.

"Hand on!" Ira called as he struggled to pull her up.

"Harold!" LePointe called from the top of the stairs where she and Joel stood.

"Keep going, get to the chopper!" the sergeant shouted back.

Though clearly hesitant, the corporal did as she was ordered and headed toward the massive hole in the upstairs wall where the chopper hovered. Meanwhile, Ira continued to struggle to pull Ellie up. They managed to gain some ground after a few seconds, and Ellie set a foot on the stair case, using it to pull herself the rest of the way up. As soon as she was up, Ellie saw a Runner heading straight toward Ira.

"Look out!" she shouted for a second time and pushed the sergeant down before pulling Joel's revolver (which she had managed to hang onto all this time) from the back of her pants and firing it at the Runner. The bullet struck it into the head, and the thing keeled over off the edge of the staircase.

Ira glanced back at the dead Runner and then at Ellie once more.

"Guess I owe you a cold one." He observed.

"Two." Ellie corrected him.

"Sarge, c'mon!" LePointe's voice called from the top of the stairs, and the pair made their way the rest of the way up.

The chopper was still hovering near the hole and Joel and LePointe had already boarded. As Ellie and Ira ran toward it, more infected were pouring up the stairs. They could hear them.

"Go, go!" Ira was shouting to Matlock as he watched more infected climb over the edge of the upstairs.

The pilot did as ordered and the helicopter began to back away from the hole and begin its ascent. As they neared, Ira took the jump first. It wasn't very bad and he landed in the helicopter with relative ease. He then turned and looked back down at Ellie who was retreating swiftly as the helicopter rose.

"Jump, Ellie, c'mon!" he shouted desperately.

Ellie to a few steps back and made a running jump out of the hole and straight toward the open door. She would later look back on it and think what a strange sensation it was. She fell through open air, nothing to stop her from falling to her death but the outstretched hand of this military sergeant. But somehow she knew. He wouldn't let her fall. She _trusted_ him, and she didn't even really know why.

"HRRRUUHHH!" the sound was made by a Runner that had jumped out the hole after Ellie and now clung to her leg like it was his first born child.

Ira managed to catch Ellie hand, and she held on with both of hers for dear life as she struggled to lift her, but the added weight of the Runner was too much. The infected, after a few seconds, let out a shriek and dug its teeth into Ellie's calf. She let out a scream of pain and kicked wildly at her attacker. At last one of the boots she was wearing connected with the thing's head and it released its grip, sending it plummeting onto the merciless concrete road below. With the added weight gone, Ira lifted her into the helicopter where Ellie collapsed briefly to one knee and breathed erratically. The pain in her calf was intense and she gritted her teeth against it.

Joel stood form the seat he had taken and helped her to her feet as best he could with his own pain. She stood and said nothing for a minute, then looked up at Joel and smiled.

"Thanks." She said quietly.

"You ok?"

"Yeah."

"Matlock get us out of here!" Ira shouted up to the cockpit as he took a seat himself and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Fuck yes, sir." The pilot called back and the helicopter took off out over Jackson.

As they flew off, Ellie stared out over the ruins of Jackson: the sanctuary that had now just very nearly claimed her life. Once more she felt a sick feeling of guilt well up in her and she fought to suppress it.

"Shit, that was too close." LePointe muttered, breaking the silence that had fallen over them.

"At least we made it out." Ira reminded her, but the corporal was on a role.

"She nearly got us killed, Harold!"

"CORPORAL!" the sergeant's voice was sharp and commanding, causing LePointe to fall silent.

"Do I need to remind you…"

Ignoring the fight, Joel helped Ellie to a seat. She sat down with a groan before reaching down and rolling up her pant leg, revealing her bleeding ankle. Joel saw it too and a look of concern came over his face.

"You're hurt."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Thank you captain obvious." She said sardonically.

Joel just grinned. "Endure and survive." He said.

Ellie smiled as well as she repeated the familiar phrase. "Endure and survive."

"Oh fuck!" Wade's voice sounded suddenly, causing Ellie and Joel to look over at him.

The private was staring at the wound on Ellie's leg and he jumped to his feet upon recognizing it.

"She's got it!"

* * *

_Oh no, Ellie's infected, whatever will they do?! Lol. These last few chapters have been rather long ones eh? Hope you are all enjoying the story thus far. Let me know if you are (or aren't) in a review if you like. P.S. sorry if the action in these chapter seemed cheesy, but I felt like this story was experiencing an acute lack of action so hey, cheers. _


	15. Pit stop

Chapter 15

Pit stop

By now all of the soldiers were on their feet and had their guns at the ready.

"Hang on, I can explain…" Ellie began, holding up a hand, but LePointe approached her and stuck the barrel of her rifle right into Ellie's chest.

"We need to neutralize her now! She could turn!"

"Back off!" Joel warned the corporal, staring to stand, but Private Davis was on him, rifle pointed at his chest and he shoved the Texan back into his seat.

"Sarge…" LePointe turned to Ira who, to all of their surprise, was still sitting in his chair, his gun still leaning against it. He hadn't even moved.

"It's fine." He said dismissively.

"Fine?! But sarge…!"

"Trust me, it's alright." Ira looked back at Ellie and the two made eye contact, "she's not going to turn."

Ellie stared at him blankly.

"Show them your arm."

She was hesitant at first, and then the young redhead rolled up her sleeve revealing the old scar. LePointe took the arm and looked it over.

"What the fuck…" the corporal muttered.

"She's immune. It's why they want her." Ira explained.

Ellie stared at him in amazement. "How do you know that?"

The latter shrugged. "How do you think we found you?"

"What the hell you talkin' about?" Joel was looking at Ira in confusion.

"Our intelligence got wind that the Saffusae was after Ellie, so we used them to track her to Jackson."

"And just who are these 'Saffusae?" Joel demanded, still irate about the whole situation.

Ira let out a sigh and leaned back in his seat. He seemed to be trying to think of a way to explain it.

"They're a bunch of religious fanatics. They think that God granted them their immunity so that they can spread the Cordyceps. They've been around for fifteen years as far as we know." He said finally.

"So…what do they want with me?" Ellie asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"I assume they want to recruit you into their ranks."

Ellie actually laughed. "As if, man they've got their heads up their asses if they think I'm gonna help them spread the infection."

"Yeah well, either way we had orders to retrieve you and bring you to Cheyenne before they got to you." LePointe broke in.

"You mean to tell us that you knew these bastards were coming and you didn't even try to warn us?!" Joel's temper was rising.

"We were on our way to extract her when we spotted her riding into the forest and were forced to land and retrieve her on foot. It's not like we weren't trying, but she wasn't in Jackson and _she _was the main objective, not saving your little community!" LePointe was in Joel's face now, and both were staring at the other with intense dislike.

"Look, none of that matters now. We're only a few hours flight from Cheyenne; can we please enjoy it in fucking peace?" Ira interrupted the conflict, voicing his own irritation at the pair's childlike behavior.

The two continued to glare at the other until Ellie moved over and pulled Joel away and seated him next to her.

"I know you aren't happy about this, Joel. But like it or not, we need their help right now." She whispered to him, causing the white haired man to look at her as though she was crazy.

"Tommy's in Cheyenne right? They can give us a lift there. It's better for all of us if we go along with them for now."

Joel just shook his head. "I don't like it." He mumbled.

Ellie placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it a little. "I know. But I need you to trust me."

"Alright, I'm catching some sleep before we get to Cheyenne. Wake me if there are any problems." Ira announced before taking off his helmet and leaning back against the metal wall of the chopper.

Ellie and Joel stared at him for a few minutes.

"He seems so nonchalant about all of this." Ellie observed to no one in particular, but it garnered a laugh from LePointe.

"He does this sort of shit weekly. I think he's used to it by now."

Ellie didn't say anything more, but she stared at the rugged face of Ira in interest.

"The things he's seen and been through…" she thought.

"…I wish I knew."

* * *

_Please, don't shoot my mommy!" _a voice, a young voice, screamed in desperation.

"_You have your orders sergeant!"_ a gruff, commanding voice roared.

"_It is an immoral order and as such I am not obliged to obey it, sir!" _Ira's own voice replied firmly.

"_Well you can explain that at your court marshal!" _

"BANG, BANG!" gunshots.

"NOOOOOOOOOO"

"Sarge…"

Ira's eyes shot open. He had been having a nightmare. LePointe stood over him. Her hand was on his shoulder as she had been gently shaking him.

"Yes, corporal?" Ira muttered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Matlock needs to speak with you, sir. It's urgent." The latter whispered.

Ira looked around and soon realized why she was doing so. Both Joel and Ellie had fallen asleep. Ellie's head rested gently on the old man's shoulder as they both slept. Wade also looked as though he was out cold, though Davis was still awake and was busy cleaning his rifle.

"Alright." The sergeant said after the look around, "I'll be right there."

He stood and made his way through the small cabin of the chopper to the cockpit where Matlock was busy flying. The commander sat down in the co-pilots chair and shot a questioning glance at the pilot.

"Sir, we have a problem?"

"What's wrong?"

"I told you if we landed that we wouldn't have enough fuel to reach Cheyenne."

"So we're running out then?"

"Damn right, we got maybe an hour of flight time before I gotta land this baby."

"How much further to Cheyenne?"

"I'd say we got another good three hours, sarge."

Ira leaned back in the chair with a sigh. "Shit." He muttered under his breath before closing his eyes. Desperately he tried to conjure up the memory of the map of Wyoming that had been shown to him during his briefing for the mission. Where could they land? After Cheyenne had collapsed there were no QZs left in Wyoming.

"So what do we do sarge?" Matlock interrupted his thoughts, causing a wave of irritation to sweep through Ira.

"I don't know. Little Caesar has to reach Cheyenne, I know that." He admitted with a shake of his head.

"Well boss, I hate to tell you this, but we're gonna be running on fumes here soon. You're gonna have to make a decision."

It was the truth and Harold knew it. But where could they go? Anyplace other than the LZ in Cheyenne had a risk of infected or bandits attacking. Still, every second wasted cost them more fuel. He went back to trying to remember the map of Wyoming. Something in the back of his mind was telling him that a solution lay on it. What was it? Suddenly, it clicked.

"The old Ruddiger Pass depot." He said, "it's only about a half-hour away."

Matlock looked over at Ira with a confused expression.

"But…that place has been abandoned for decades." He said slowly after a minute or so of hesitation.

"Yeah, but command says the army abandoned it pretty quick and that they didn't have time to take all of the supplies with them. Maybe they left behind some chopper fuel. That stuff should still be good right?"

"Sure, as long as it hasn't been exposed to sunlight or anything, but sarge, that place has probably been ransacked and raided by now. The chances of their being any fuel are pretty slim."

"You got a better suggestion?"

Matlock opened his mouth, but soon shut it again. He did not. Ira noted this and nodded resolutely.

"Ruddiger Pass it is then. You know the way?"

"Yeah." Matlock said quietly, nodding.

"Good then I'll leave you to it." Ira stood and exited the cockpit.

LePointe sat next to Davis and chatted softly with him. The private had be showing something to her and as he approached Ira's curiosity was piqued.

"What's that private?" he asked.

Davis and LePointe looked back at him and there was a brief silence. Davis then held out his hand. In his palm was a golden wedding band.

"It was Baxter's." Davis explained solemnly, "he asked me to give it to his wife when he volunteered to hold off the infected back the cabin."

Ira stared at the small circle of metal. A wave of sadness washed over him, but he fought it off. If he drowned in his own sorrow, his other squad mates would share his fate. He was their leader after all. So he simply reached out and firmly grasped Davis's shoulder before giving it an encouraging squeeze.

"Well you be sure to give it to her when we get back to L.A."

"So what's the situation, sarge?" LePointe asked, changing the subject as it was clearly not an easy one. Baxter had been with them for several years.

"Right, we'll be landing at Ruddiger Pass refuel station." Ira announced aloud so that all could hear him.

"Ruddiger? I thought that place is abandoned." Davis pointed out in surprise.

"It is, but they might have left some fuel behind."

"So we're gonna land at some abandoned depot and just _hope_ there's fuel?" Joel cut in suddenly, causing the three soldiers to look over at him. They thought he had been asleep.

"That's the plan." Ira said simply.

Joel scoffed. "Shit, I could pull a better plan out of my ass."

"Look, it's better than trying to land this thing in the middle of the wilderness and then hiking the rest of the way to Cheyenne!" The sergeant, who was getting pretty fed up with Joel's attitude, snapped back.

Joel opened his mouth to say something back, but he suddenly felt Ellie squeeze his shoulder tightly. He looked over at her. The redhead was wide awake and staring at him with a reprimanding gaze.

"You can't really be seriously agreein' with this." The latter muttered to her.

"Joel…please." Ellie's voice sounded more like a plea than anything.

Joel looked over at her and saw the exhaustion in her face. She was so tired. His anger crumbled and he sighed. "Alright." He muttered.

"Thank you."

Ruddiger Pass was revealed to be an old, fenced in building that looked like a huge bunker. There were a few minor structures such as guard houses and small hangars, but they had fallen into disrepair and many of them had their ceilings caved in. The bunker itself had no windows, and the only other notable structure was the helipad covered in vegetation, though with the giant 'H' still visible on it. They landed without incident and as they did so, Matlock tapped the fuel gage.

"Alright…" he said in an anxious tone, "…if we don't find fuel here, I don't think I can get her off the ground again."

"Understood." Ira replied with a nod before heading outside of the chopper. The three remaining soldier and Ellie and Joel were standing out on the helipad.

Ellie was busy studying the massive steel bunker-like structure before her. The only entrance appeared to be two metal doors down the stairs from the helipad.

"There should be pumping equipment out here." Matlock observed upon exiting the helicopter and looking around the helipad.

"Chances are it was taken by either the military or bandits. But I don't think either had been in the bunker recently so if there's any fuel here, that's where it will be." Ira concurred, gesturing toward said bunker. "So, three of us will go in. Matlock will stay here with Little Caesar, Joel, and one other person. Who's staying, who's going?"

"I'll go." Ira was surprised when Ellie stepped forward.

"Uh…ha ha ha…no." he said with a fake laugh before turning to LePointe, Wade, and Davis.

"I'll do it." LePointe stepped forward first. Davis, after a minute of hesitation, followed suit.

"Alright, Wade, you stay here and guard Ellie with your life."

"You know, I can help you! I don't need protection." Ellie said angrily.

"My job is to protect you until we reach Cheyenne and sending into a bunker, that has god knows what in it, is not my idea of protecting." Ira retorted, looking at Ellie sternly.

This time it was Joel's turn to hold Ellie back with one arm while she and Ira had a stare down. And once again it was the sergeant who looked away.

"Alright, LePointe, Davis, with me." The trio locked and loaded their weapons before heading down the stairs and toward the bunker door.

Ellie watched them go and gave a huff of annoyance.

"I'm sick of everyone hear treating me like I'm still fourteen." She hissed to Joel who was still standing next to her.

"Look, this is good alright? While they're in there we can get hell out of _here_." The latter whispered back, throwing a glance at Private Wade who was still watching his comrades departure and then over at Matlock who was checking the helicopter for any damage or the like.

"What are you talking about?"

"This is our chance to get out of here."

Ellie stared at Joel for moment, dumbstruck, and then she slowly backed away and went to sit down on the edge of the open helicopter door. Joel watched her for a minute, and then walked over to sit down right next to her.

"You just don't get it." Ellie said quietly after a minute or two of awkward silence.

"Ellie…"

"Where would we go, Joel? Back to Boston? We'd just wander around the country, Joel. I can't do that again."

Once more there was silence. Joel felt like there was something he should be saying, but he just didn't know.

"There's nothing out there for us. No Jackson, no Boston….no Fireflies."

At those words, Joel felt a twinge of guilt. It was the first he had felt on the subject in a long time. Did what he had done to the Fireflies haunt him? Perhaps. Sometimes he still had nightmares about Marlene's pleading eyes staring up at him as she bled out onto the concrete floor of the hospital parking garage. But of course he had never told Ellie about that. Had she believed him when he had told her about what had happened? Had she bought his lie? Something in his mind had told him that she had not, but Ellie had never said anything about it.

"Tommy's in Cheyenne, maybe others are too. This is the last option we have, Joel." Ellie was still speaking, thought Joel was too far entrenched in his own thoughts to hear it fully.

Joel nodded slowly and went back to watching as Ira, LePointe, and Davis pried open the doors to the bunker and disappeared inside.

"And what about your father?" he asked suddenly, catching Ellie off guard.

She looked over at him and he at her with an unwavering gaze.

"What about him?"

Ellie looked away and out at the sky which was beginning to turn orange with the setting sun as the day had worn on. She sighed.

"I don't know." She admitted at last.

Joel said nothing more but stared out at the sky as well. It was beautiful. One of the few beautiful things left in the world it seemed.

"To the edge of the universe and back." He said suddenly.

Ellie was silent for a moment. She looked over at him and the slightest hint of a smile played over her lips.

"Endure and survive." She said finally.

Joel smiled and the pair went back to watching the sun set in silence.

"Endure and survive."

* * *

_A slow chapter I know, but the next one gets exciting. I felt like I have been neglecting Joel and Ellie's relationship so I figured I'd add some feels in there at the end. Good to see them on good terms (course how long can that last?). Please take the time to review as I have noted a considerable lack thereof as of late. Criticism is welcome or even just a "good job" slap on the back. Cheers. _


	16. Into the dark

Chapter 16

Into the dark

Getting inside the bunker proved too little challenge to Ira and his team. Each military unit sent on missions outside the QZ was given an Electronic Entry Expediter (or Triple E for short). Most soldiers just called it the "Reverse Vice Grip." Ira watched on as the device (no bigger than a set of bolt cutters) ripped open the bunker doors easily enough. The opening revealed darkness so thick that even when the sergeant squinted into it he couldn't see three feet in front of him.

"Alright, you all know the drill, flashlight live, gas masks on." He ordered his team before clicking on the light on his M4 and taking out his gas mask and placing it over his own face.

LePointe and Davis followed suit. The group moved through the door and into the entry hall area. This consisted of a large room that had several desks that had been overturned and a metal bar door that blocked the only way leading further into the facility. There was a small room next to the door that was connected to the entry way by a small window; most likely a security checkpoint. Ira approached the window and shined his light through it. Sure enough he saw a large red button on the wall inside the space and nodded knowingly.

"That button probably opens the gate, but the powers out, so there's no way it'll work." He said to the others, stepping back and looking the gate over with a thoughtful expression (though it was impossible to see through his mask).

"You think the generator would still work? I mean, it hasn't been used in nearly thirty years." LePointe inquired as she too looked over the gate, "or should we just use the Triple E?"

"The Triple E won't work; these kinds of doors were built with brake mechanisms on the sliders to keep them from being pried open." Ira explained, gesturing toward the gate.

"Ok, so what do we do then?" Davis asked, looking around the abandoned lobby for anything of note or use.

"Over here!" LePointe's voice called from a few feet away at the far left side of the room.

Ira and Davis made their way over to what LePointe was pointing toward. It was a small set of elevator doors with a sign next to them that read: "Maintenance Access." There was a small slot next to it where an ID card was to be swiped, but of course with the power out that point was moot.

"We can open the doors with the Triple E and there should be direct access to the generator room." The corporal noted once her companions had joined her.

"Yeah…maybe." Ira muttered as he examined the elevator doors.

"Alright, we pry them open and I'll head down in. You two wait up here until I get the power back on."

"What? You're going down there alone?" LePointe said incredulously.

"It's better that way. Once the power in on, you can send the elevator down to me."

It was clear that LePointe wasn't very happy with the plan, but she was not about to question her superior officer so she conceded with a nod. Ira noted this, and there was a part of him that wanted to assure her that he would be fine, but his sense of duty told him it would be inappropriate. So he said nothing and watched on as Davis used the Triple E to pry open the double metal doors.

"Alright, as soon as the power is back on, you be waiting for the elevator. We'll send it right down. If you aren't on it when it comes back up we'll be coming down after you." LePointe assured Ira as he prepared to enter the black pit that was the elevator shaft.

"No! If I get the power on but don't come back you get inside and get the fuel. Get Little Caesar to Cheyenne. You understand?"

"No way, I won't leave you down…"

"CORPORAL!" Ira shouted, causing the latter to fall silent.

The sergeant said nothing for a moment and let out a sigh. "That's an order." He said finally.

If she had been unhappy with the plan before now, LePointe was outright outraged at it now. Still, what could she do? Harold was her CO. She could say no different to him. It hurt her in a way.

"If only he'd listen to me sometimes…" She thought sadly as she watched him climb down into the elevator shaft, "…he might live longer."

The elevator itself was stuck in-between floors. Ira studied the large chamber for a moment using the flashlight attached to his chest as he clung to the side of the elevator shaft, determining how he was going to circumvent it. At last he noted that a small open space existed between the back wall of the shaft and the elevator itself. It was not very large, but he was certain he could squeeze through. Using the pipes and cables that lined the elevator shafts walls, Ira made his way down until he reached the top of the stalled elevator. He then moved over to the back and started to lower himself into the small space. As his slender but tone body moved through, his arms which were positioned on the edge of the elevator and a small ledge cut into the shaft were all that kept his from falling the long drop and most likely perishing. However, as he slipped further in and his grip on the ledges began to strain, the sergeant felt around with his feet desperately for some sort of foothold.

There was none to be had, and as his arms began to shake with atrophy Ira attempted to lift himself back up out of the gap. It was no good, however. His muscles gave and the sergeant fell right through the gap and started the plummet toward the bottom of the shaft far below. He let out a scream as he fell. Luck favored him, however. As he fell, Ira's flailing hands caught a hold of a thick cable that was hanging from the wall. He screamed again, but this time against the pain of the burn his hands endured as he grasped the cable and slid down it a few feet before coming to a halt.

"Goddamn it!" he shouted into the dark, gritting his teeth against the pain of his burnt hands.

"Sarge!? You alright?!" LePointe's voice echoed down the shaft, muffled greatly by the elevator above him.

"Yes!" Ira shouted back up as best he could, attempting to ignore the pain in his hands.

Slowly, owing to his burns, the soldier began to climb down the cable until he had reached the end of it. The bottom of the shaft was still a twenty feet below him, as Ira could see upon shining his flashlight down into the dark shaft. After feeling around the walls a little and locating a ledge, he climbed onto it and left the cable behind before investigating the wall below him for footholds. He was more successful this time around, and several pipes and nooks allowed him to climb tentatively down the rest of the way. As soon as his feet had hit the ground, Ira let out a sigh of relief. He shone his light around the great room he now found himself in upon exiting the shaft through the small set of double doors just above him (which were miraculously open and did not require forcing). The room itself was filled with all kinds of implements. There was a work bench with tools all over it, several shelves filled with dusty odds and ends, and, most importantly, a massive generator at the far end.

"Bingo." Ira muttered as he approached the generator.

The generator hadn't been used in decades and looked it. Cobwebs adorned the massive crank handle that was sticking out of the front that Ira now took a hold of. The pain in his hands intensified as he tried to turn the handle, and he gave up after gritting and grunting his teeth against the pain just long enough for the handle to go maybe halfway around.

"AAAAW FUCK!" Harold swore loudly as he stepped away from the generator, shaking his hands that were stinging so badly they almost felt numb.

"IERK!" the sound came from somewhere in the darkness around him and Ira rounded on his feet. His heart beat quickened and he shone his light all around the room, though saw no threat. Still, the sound had defiantly come from a Clicker, and what was worse, a Clicker that was nearby. Inwardly he cursed himself for being less cautious with how much noise he was making.

At first he reached for his M4 on his back, but after a minutes hesitation he realized that using the assault rifle while his hands were in the condition they were in was probably not the wisest of decisions. So instead he reached down and pulled his pistol from its holster. With his weapon drawn, Ira surveyed the room once more, but saw nothing. Deciding that his chances would be better with the lights on, he turned back toward the generator and began to attempt another turning of the handle. With pistol in hand and the other gripping the handle, Ira gritted his teeth and groaned against the sharp stings that traveled from his palms up and down his arms as he turned the crank fully at least three times. The generator made a loud puttering noise but did little else. At last, after giving the crank one last frantic spin, the giant behemoth of metal roared to life. The generator began to hum and the lights above flickered briefly before going solid and staying so. The light filling the room revealed what a mistake it had really been. Three Clickers had gathered in the far corner of the room (so far that his flashlight had not caught them) and they now let out shrieks before charging toward the generator where Ira stood.

"SHIT!" the sergeant shouted as he opened fire.

"BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG" four shots.

One of the shots stuck the first Clicker right in the head, killing it instantly (the army had found that armor piercing rounds had the same effect on the clumps of fungus that grew around the Clickers' heads), the second hit another Clicker's neck, and the other two stuck the third Clicker in the torso.

The one with the neck wound fell to the ground as well, clutching at the hole in its neck. However, the third continued its charge even against the force of the bullets slamming into it. Seeing this, Ira slammed the butt of his pistol into the side of the thing's head as it attempted to tackle him. The Clicker collapsed at last and Ira stood still for a moment trying to catch his breath as he stared at the dead infected around him. He did not stay long however. The racket would surely attract more. Ira ran as fast as he could for the elevator and jammed his thumb (them being the least burnt of his fingers) into the button to call the elevator. The open doors slid shut and the creaks and clangs of the elevator making its way down toward him could be heard on the other side. At last a small ding announced its arrival and the doors slid open.

Ira tired with his pistol ready and went back first into the elevator before reaching over and pressing the button for the first floor. The doors closed without incident and for the first time in the last thirty minutes, the sergeant finally began to relax a little. In the dim lighting provided by the one working light in the elevator he examined his burnt hand. It was red all over definitely, but not severely burnt at least.

"Clang! Screech!" the elevator jolted violently to a halt and began to make a loud creaking noise a little over half-way up to the top floor. Ira stumbled a little and kept himself from falling only by virtue of catching himself on the wall of the elevator.

"Aaaah!" he hissed in pain as his tender palm hit the sides of the elevator.

Suddenly, the entire thing gave a long bang and he could feel the thing falling.

"NOOOOOOO!" Ira screamed desperately just before the elevator hit the bottom of the shaft.

"BOOM!"

* * *

"Sergeant!? Sergeant!?" LePointe pounded on the elevator doors desperately as she screamed the word.

The power had come on and the elevator could be heard moving around. However, as the pair had heard it ascending, there had been a series of horrific noises followed by the sound of a terrific crash. Now, the corporal was pounding her knuckles on the metal doors of the shaft until they were bloody.

"My God." Davis whispered as he realized what must have happened.

"HAROLD!" LePointe screamed, ceasing her pounding and leaning against the metal doors, heaving heavily as her attempts to catch her breath intermingled with her attempt to suppress the sobs that were welling up in her.

"He couldn't be…" she thought in anguish.

"Wha…what do we…what do we do now, ma'am?" Davis had turned his attention to the corporal who was still slumped against the elevator doors.

She said nothing for a moment as she came to grips with it all.

"Maybe he's still alive. Maybe he's strapped down their right now." One voice in her head encouraged her. "How?" asked another, "How could he survive that? You heard it didn't you? You're in charge now. They'll need orders, all of them. It's down to you."

Slowly Jennifer got to her feet. She was a soldier. Soldiers saw death almost daily in this new world, and they had to deal with it. She would have to do the same for this one. It couldn't be an exception. So, pushing her feelings aside, the corporal picked up her weapon and strode over to the broken window at the guard's station. She reached in and pushed the red button, and this time a buzzer sounded followed by the gate sliding open.

"C'mon, his last order still stands." She said roughly in an effort to hide the quiver in her voice.

Davis watched in stunned silence as the corporal led the way through the gate. He did not follow at first, but simply watched as she headed down the way a few feet before turning to look at him.

"Now, Davis!" she barked.

The private shook himself and soon followed after as the pair made their way down the empty hall. It ended at another set of elevator doors, though these were considerably larger.

"Great, another damn elevator." Davis muttered as they looked the doors over.

"Only way down I'm seeing, c'mon." LePointe said simply, pushing the call button on the side.

The ding sounded immediately and the doors slid open. The elevator itself was larger than the maintenance one, as might be expected. Thus LePointe and Davis both fit comfortably (and with enough room between them to wave their arms about without hitting one another) inside. LePointe looked over the control panel of the elevator. There were three levels, the top level where they now were, the second which, according to the faded letters next to the button, contained fuel storage, barracks, and the main control center of the bunker and the third level which housed maintenance, the armory, and the mess hall.

The corporal hesitated. Their last orders had been to gather the fuel and leave for Cheyenne with Little Caesar. Still, once again that voice was reminding her. "He could be alive. What if he's trapped? You would abandon him so?"

"Goddamnit!" she cursed herself as she pushed the button for the third floor.

Davis noted this right away and looked up at her in confusion.

"Ma'am, the fuel is on the second level." He said slowly.

"I'm aware of that private, thank you."

"But ma'am, our last order…"

"Stand down private!"

Davis did as he was ordered and shut up. The elevator began to slowly descend and the two soldiers readied themselves and their weapons as they traveled deeper into the bunker. LePointe noticed Davis giving her a look and she shot him a harsh glance.

"What?!"

Davis immediately looked away and went back to watching the elevator door.

"I know what I'm doing." LePointe said quietly, more to herself it seemed then to Davis.

"I know."

* * *

Ellie leaned against the chopper staring out at the setting sun before them. It was about to disappear behind the surrounding mountains. She glanced back at Joel who was sound asleep in one of the chairs inside the helicopter. He mumbled in his sleep as he always did. Another nightmare it seemed. Ellie would often wonder if she mumbled in her own sleep. She had been through plenty to endure her own nightmares and had done so multiple times. Most of them were about David, though a few were also about Sam and Henry.

She then turned her attention to Wade and Matlock who were sitting nearby as well. Wade was cleaning his rifle while Matlock watched on and chatted idly. Neither of them was paying much attention to her. Ellie then looked back at the entrance to the bunker.

"They've been in there too long. They should have been back by now." She thought grimly.

Of course it had been little over an hour, but still, something in Ellie's gut was telling her that something was wrong and she had learned long ago to trust her gut. Glancing back at Joel and then at the two occupied soldiers, the redhead stepped inside the helicopter and silently grabbed up the rifle lying next to the sleeping Joel. She looked at his twitching face as he reacted to whatever torment his dream was forcing on him. A wave of guilt swept over her.

It was as if she could hear his voice right then and there, telling her not to be so reckless, not to risk herself. But why not? Ellie was immune. She above all should have been the one to take the risks; she should have been the one to take on the burdens, to carry out the most dangerous of tasks. She above all had the greatest chances of survival; therefore she should ride in the front line. It was only fair.

"I'm sorry." Ellie whispered, kissing her hand and placing it tenderly on Joel's cheek.

She appreciated his insistence that she keep as far from danger as possible. It showed just how much he cared for her. But that did not mean she was always inclined to obey it. Sneaking around the side of the chopper, she glanced around the corner of it and saw Wade was pointing something out on his rifle to Matlock. Taking advantage of the distraction, Ellie moved swiftly down the steps and followed the path toward the bunker door. Upon reaching the door, it soon became apparent that the soldiers had managed to turn the power on as the lights were all aglow inside.

"Ellie!" the voice caused her to turn and she saw Joel standing back at the helicopter pad staring at her.

"How did he…?" she wondered, but said nothing as she turned and ran inside the bunker, slamming the door behind her.

"ELLIE!" the last thing she heard from the outside was Joel's frantic shouts.

"I'm sorry!" she shouted, though she doubted they could hear her, "I'm so sorry. So, so, sorry."

There was no going back now. She would have to push forward.

Into the dark...

* * *

_Things are getting rather bleak aren't they? Hey, its the Last of Us. A little glimpse into the motivation behind Ellie's motivation toward her "recklessness." I imagine the pressure of being immune to the infection would be immense after all. Also, I'd like to remind you to please review as there has been a significant lack of them over the last few chapters, so **review, review, review**, please :). Cheers._


	17. Onward and Downward

Chapter 17

Onward and downward

"Ellie!" Joel started to sprint for the door, but someone grabbed him by the shirt collar and yanked him back so hard that he actually fell on his back. This caused a new wave of pain to shoot through him (why wasn't his damn back getting any better?).

"Don't you move!" Wade was over him with a gun pointed right down at Joel's face.

"She's in there all alone, we have too…" Joel began, attempting to stand, but Wade's boot on his chest forced him back down and interrupted his explanation.

"No way, I ain't letting you both out of my sight. You're our insurance she comes back!"

"Are you crazy!?" Joel was fighting to get Wade's foot off of him, but the private fired off a shot into the air before aiming back down at Joel, who ceased his struggle.

"Give me an excuse old man." He hissed.

Joel conceded and lay still, but his mind continued to work furiously. He had to get into the bunker, he _had_ to.

But how?

* * *

Ellie walked slowly through the waiting area. It was no longer pitch dark as it had been for her predecessors, but was now dimly illuminated by the overhead lights (some of which were out, but most still shone). She approached the open gate through which LePointe and Davis had passed only minutes ago. Just as Ellie was about to head through, she heard a sound from off to her right. It sounded like a moan that a Runner might give, very faint but still distinctive, and she spun in that direction with rifle at the ready. But when she was greeted by the sight of nothing but a pair of metal double doors that were probably to an elevator, she was confused.

Slowly, Ellie approached the doors, her curiosity further enflamed by the thin column of smoke that was filtering through the opening between the two doors. She reached them and pushed the call elevator button, but all that happened was that a loud blaring noise sounded followed by the sound of creaking metal. Still, wondering what was going on, Ellie grabbed the double doors, her finger just barely fitting in the small crack between them, and pulled as hard as she could. With a loud shrieking creak, the door slid open slightly, but would go no more and she gave up with a heave of exhaustion. Ellie stood for a moment looking at the large opening between the two doors she had managed to create. It was not wide enough for her to fit through by no means, however….

The redhead jammed the butt of her rifle into the space and started to pry it open further. Slowly but surely, the doors slid further open. Just as she had managed to pry the doors open wide enough for her to fit through, there was a loud 'crack' and the wooden butt of the rifle broke off.

"Fuck!" Ellie swore as she examined the jagged end of the gun.

It was useless now; the recoil would have just driven the splintered end into her shoulder. So, tossing the gun aside, Ellie glanced back inside the elevator shaft. Dim red lights illuminated the deep shaft and she glanced down toward the source of the smoke. The elevator, or what was left of it, lay at the bottom in a mangled heap of metal.

"Jesus, what the hell happened?" she wondered, and was about to withdraw from the space when she heard it again.

A low moan reverberated through the shaft. Someone was down there!

"Hello?" Ellie shouted into the shaft, but no reply came.

"Hang on!" Ellie slid through the doors and balance on the small ledge that a girder provided.

"Oh man this is such a bad idea." She thought, but continued to slide along the wall toward the side none the less.

Ellie had never really had much climbing lessons. Sure, she had gone on a few hikes with Joel in the mountains around Jackson, and her hunting excursions had also led her into some sticky situations. Still, as she climbed down the shaft using the girders and pipes that lined the sides her mind continued to chastise her on the lack of wisdom behind her decision.

But this was Ellie, and she was not about to leave someone behind if they were down there, so she continued her descent. As she was nearing the bottom, most of the pipes and girders had been ripped by the falling elevator and she was unable to find a good foothold for the last few feet down. Noticing a cable hanging nearby, she reached from her current position on a small ledge created by a pair of pipes. However, she was unable to reach it without leaning forward which, at her current precarious position, was not a good idea. But as she looked around for another possible root and it quickly became apparent that none was present, she looked back over at the cable and took a deep steadying breath.

"Oooooh shit!" she shouted as she jumped from the pipes and grabbed onto the wire.

She slid down it a few inches before managing to get a good grip on the black strip of metal and plastic and stopping her slide. After a minute of consolidating her grip, Ellie started to slowly shimmy down the wire until she was a few feet from the ground. Here she simply released the wire and fell the rest of the way. She landed on top of the half-destroyed elevator with a grunt and then moved to the trap door on top of the large metal box. As might have been expected, the crumpled trap door refused to budge as Ellie tugged at it furiously.

"C'mon you son of a…"

"Crack!" the whole thing came off its hinges and Ellie stumbled back from the sudden give, almost falling off the top of the elevator.

She teetered on the edge for a minute before managing to regain her balance. Ellie caught her breath briefly before approaching the opening. Inside of the elevator was even more of a wreck, and trapped beneath all of it was the body of Sergeant Ira. As soon as she recognized him, Ellie climbed down into the crippled elevator and began to move some of the metal covering the sergeant.

"Oh God, is he dead?" she wondered briefly, but the through was belayed immediately by the groan that escaped the man's lips.

Managing to get most of the metal off of Ira, Ellie pulled the still unconscious sergeant out and lay him down on top of the elevator; heaving from the strain of lifting him (he was rather heavy). Once this was done, Ellie have him a glance over for any serious injuries. He had some cuts on his face that were bleeding, and a wound on his leg was doing the same but other than these she saw nothing beyond the bruises. He was lucky really.

As she was examining him, Ira suddenly let out a groan and his eyes fluttered open. He stared blankly at the face of Ellie that was over him. Then, his eyes growing wide with surprise, he sat up a little.

"What happened? The elevator…"

"Easy…" said Ellie, pushing Ira back once more, "…it fell, you're lucky to be alive."

"What the hell are you doing here?" the sergeant demanded, anger replacing his confusion.

Ellie was so stunned by this that she said nothing at first as she stared down at him in shock.

"Ummm, first off, you're welcome for saving your life, second off; I came in here to help you." She spoke after a minute or so in a calm, but clearly annoyed voice.

"Are you stupid?! You could have been killed. You shouldn't put yourself at risk like…" Ira continued his lecture, but Ellie let out a frustrated shout that cut him off.

"I'm sick of everyone treating me like a child! I'm not fourteen you know, I can take care of myself! I don't need someone to babysit me!" the redhead declared furiously, her voice reverberating around the shaft, causing Ira to become nervous. The sound could attract Clickers.

Ira opened his mouth to tell her to be quiet, but he stopped suddenly. Her words sunk into his mind and he realized that she was right. He had never seen anyone who wasn't military fight like she could. There was no way anyone could be considered 'helpless'. Sure, his mission was to protect her, but what good was mothering her? All it was doing was making her angry and holding back her potential to help. She could be a good ally in battle if he'd let her.

So, with a sigh, he conceded.

"Alright…" he whispered, causing Ellie to look at him in shock.

"What?" she asked.

"Alright, I won't babysit you. You have proven more than capable of handling yourself. C'mon, help me up." Ira requested, holding out his hand.

Ellie hesitated at first, still surprised by his giving in, but she took his hand and lifted him to his feet, which he did so with a groan of pain, clutching at the wound in his leg.

"You gonna be alright?" she asked with concern.

"Oh yeah, trust me, I've had worse." Ira assured her with a grin which actually made Ellie laugh a little.

The sergeant couldn't help but grin as well. For that one brief moment they could leave all of it, the hell they slogging through. It was a surprisingly happy moment for the both of them.

"I like the way she smiles." Ira thought, but he cleared his throat and looked up the elevator shaft.

"There's no way I'm making that climb." He said, before shifting his gaze to the elevator doors a few feet above them that led back to the generator room.

"That'll have to do then." Ellie agreed, noting where he was looking.

"Right, give me a boost."

"You're kidding right?"

"Well I can't give you one, not with this leg."

Seeing that he had a point, Ellie agreed and stood near the wall with her hands cupped together. Placing his good foot in her cupped hands, Ira was hoisted up against the wall high enough that he could reach the bottom of the doors. He attempted to pry them open with his hands, but to no avail. In fact, he nearly fell from the force of the attempt.

"Jeeez, be careful." Ellie groaned as she struggled to stay balanced with him on her shoulders.

Ira, after regaining his balance, shifted his grip on the doors so that he was attempting to pull them apart from further down, almost to the floor. Here he was more successful and managed to pry the door open a few inches. It was not enough for them to fit through, and he doubted that he would be able to force it open any further without risking a fall.

An idea came to him suddenly, and the soldier reached down to his belt and took a grenade from it (they were a rare weapon in the new order of things. L.A. was one of the few remaining QZs with an armory that carried them). He positioned it so that the majority of the grenade's body was on the opposite side of the door. This would ensure that the fragmentation would threaten him and Ellie least. One the grenade was sitting snugly in the little space, Ira dropped down with a grunt and grabbed Ellie. He gritted his teeth at the effort, for the pain of his burnt hands was still present, but had numbed a little. He then pulled her down with him as he fell to his belly and held his hands over his head. Ellie, seeing him do so, followed suit.

"BANG!" the grenade went off, causing both to flinch and hold their hands tighter over their heads.

When it was all over with, Ira peaked up at the elevator doors and grinned. The grenade had managed to blow open a large portion of the lower part of the doors. The gap was no wide enough for him and Ellie to fit through.

"Let's go."

He said, gesturing toward the opening. Ellie, still shocked by the sudden explosion stared at Ira for a minute in utter amazement.

"Jesus Harold, you coulda killed us."

Ira felt an odd twinge at her calling him by his first name. He ignored it however.

"C'mon, we have to go _now_. That sound will attract attention."

Ellie boosted Ira up once more and he squeezed through the opening before reaching down and offering his hand to Ellie. She took it and allowed him to hoist her up and through. They were back in the generator room which Ira found disconcerting. Surely the Clickers must have heard the explosion. As the pair made their way toward the large set of double doors that was marked by the glowing red neon exit sign, Ira heard yelps and clicks from the other side and instinctively reached for his assault rifle, but found it was not there.

"Shit!" he swore, realizing it must have been lost in the elevator.

"What's wrong?" Ellie whispered, though she too could hear the noises of the infected beyond the door.

"Are you armed?" Ira whispered, pulling his pistol from its holster (at least that had remained in its place).

Ellie nodded. True she had broken the rifle, but reached behind her and pulled Joel's revolver from her pants loop. She popped open the drum and noted that she had only four shots left.

"Uuuuh sort of." She added.

Ira rolled his eyes, but chose not to say anything. There was no remedy to it at the moment so it would have been pointless. The sergeant then slowly cracked the door and glanced out into the hallway.

"I count three, all Clickers, maybe a runner near the back." He said quietly, as he continued peering through the opening.

"I got four bullets, and that's if I don't miss which is not likely." Ellie replied, gesturing toward the revolver.

Ira nodded, "I've got seven." He said, nodding toward his own colt pistol.

"Well, what can go wrong then?" Ellie grinned as she said with, causing the latter to smile.

"Always the fighter hmm?"

"Yep."

They hesitated for a minute, then, very slowly, Ira opened the door a little more and stepped out. He placed a finger over his lips to signal Ellie for quiet and then moved slowly out into the hall. She followed after.

Slowly, and as quietly as they could, the pair made their way down the hall, passing by two Clickers who were letting out occasional clicks and 'looking' around. Ellie crept slowly past one particularly nasty one. She couldn't even tell if the thing had a nose or ears or any other discernible _human_ features. It looked like a mass of fungus with a slit-like opening that served as a mouth. Suddenly, it turned around with a yelp, and its flailing arm nearly smacked into Ellie and would have given her away had Ira not yanked her back lighting quick. Nonetheless the Clicker stayed staring at the pair making its clicks. It must have heard the motion. Ira pulled Ellie closer to him so she pressed up against his strong frame and put a finger over his lips as he stared intently back at the searching Clicker.

She felt strangely comfortable in the position, and in doing so it made her feel uncomfortable and she wiggled a little in his grip. He held her tightly however. After a minute, the Clicker turned back toward the wall and continued its odd shuffle. Seeing this, Ira released all but Ellie's hand and continued to lead her down the hall, being sure to keep a better distance from the Clickers. They had managed to make it past the lot (the Runner even) as rounded the corner swiftly.

"Whoa!" Ira exclaimed as he walked right into a gun barrel.

"AIIIIIEEA!" unfortunately his exclamation did not go unnoticed.

The Clickers were all charging down the hall toward the group.

"FUCK, MOVE NOW!" Ira shouted as he pushed by LePointe and Davis and ran for the elevator at the end of the hall.

Seeing the approaching infected, LePointe, Davis, and Ellie followed suit. It was a close race indeed. The Clickers stayed right on their heels. They had just reached the elevator, inside of which Ira was pushing the button for the door to close as hard as he could. The doors had begun to close by the time Ellie reached it and she just barely managed to squeeze through the rapidly closing opening. She was not alone however. One of the Clickers also tried by the door had gone too far for it to fit through. The thing remained jammed in the door, flailing wildly and shrieking. LePointe raised her M4 and fired several rounds into the Clicker. It stopped moving and fell limp. With the others Clickers still just outside the door and were now trying to squeeze into the opening themselves, Ellie stepped forward and delivered a kick to the corpse of the trapped Clicker. It broke free and the doors snapped shut. Now, all that could be heard was the sounds of the ravenous infected shrieking and pounding on the door furiously.

LePointe pushed the second floor button and the elevator lurched into motion. After this, the whole group took a moment to catch their breath. Ira looked over at the corporal with a reproving look.

"I told you to get to fuel storage." He said in a calm, but clearly angry tone.

"I wasn't going to leave you, sir."

"So instead you'd endanger the entire mission?"

"Well what is _she _doing here!?" LePointe pointed angrily toward Ellie.

"She was helping me."

"SO WERE WE!"

A tense silence followed in which Ellie felt oddly detached from the rest. It made sense she supposed. After all, they had all known one another and been through a lot more together than she had. None the less, there was some hidden tension between LePointe and Ira that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"The fuel storage in on the second level. We get there, we grab a load, and we get the hell out of here." Ira said finally, breaking the tension.

There was no reply, but no one objected of course. They had no other plans anyway. Still, as the elevator continued it ascent Ellie couldn't shake the feeling of foreboding that had been filling her since she had entered the bunker.

Something was not right about this place. Not right at all.

* * *

_It been a while I know. Half of you are probably like "dude, 'bout time". I apologize for the long wait, writer's block for this story hit me hard. I'm still truckin' though so review and let me know how the story is going for the rest of you. Cheers. _


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